


The Raven and the Nightingale

by Andropedia



Series: The Raven And The Nightingale [1]
Category: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Rare Pairings, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-28 09:41:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 63,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13901358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andropedia/pseuds/Andropedia
Summary: Grace doesn't buy Taina's reputation, much to her dismay. This is more on the classical F/ side of things. I'm sorry in advance. Also, everyone take a guess who I'm maining. :3





	1. If I Told You I'd Have To Kill You

**Author's Note:**

> So, since most of the operators basically have the same or same-ish "psychological" profile, I'm taking a few artistic liberties here. Mostly so this isn't a tale of a group of stoic perfectionist who have authority problems.
> 
> Obviously its a trope fest. You have been warned.
> 
> PS: I initially intended to post it as a whole long text, but given the speed I'm writing it in, that would probably be around nevermas. So there is that. 
> 
> Tags that seem out of place are for the parts I've written but not edited/rewriten.
> 
> Enjoy

Its a late January evening after one of the Six team exercises at Herford, and its a cold and wet English winter outside. The majority of the bases personal is minding their own business or engages in light socializing. Most of the members of the team have already left for the states; Everything is mostly quiet. Who doesn't have to do anything isn't, as a freezing wind is blowing outside.

Over the months working with Rainbow Caveira has memorized all the habits, gym times and extra usual activities of the other operators, and routinely manages to always avoid or slip past any of the other members of Six. And if she doesn't manage to align her own schedule to meet no one, she would try to at least only meet Capitao, who she knows for some years and who is accustomed to her preferences and respected them, or someone like Buck, who pretty much minds his own business at all times and doesn't give two cents about her or her presence.

The more startled she is when she, as usually moving completely silent, crosses the half open door of one of the rooms, only illuminated by the shine of a monitor, and suddenly a voice addresses her from inside.

 

“Hey, Taina.” An unknown female voice greets her happily. There is a warmth in it that makes it sound like they have know for years. Yet she was no idea who it is. And frankly non of the other members of Rainbow ever address her by her first name, most of them are suspicious of her or outright recent her. Except for Capitao. When they are alone.

Bewildered she stops in her track and turns toward the door to take a look inside. In front if the screen illuminating the vicinity she makes out the shape of a woman. Its the Korean they call 'Dokkaebi'. _The Gremlin_ ; They both have been part of today's exercise. Short pigtails looking out from under a gray slouchy. A hooded wool vest over a white tank top and hotpants. Both legs drawn up and folded onto the surface of the chair without shoes or socks. Taina thinks it looks incredibly uncomfortable.

Apparently the Korean is playing some sort of video game on the laptop. Brown and purple blobs of something are moving vividly on the screen, as the woman aggressively hammers the keys and moves the mouse, her arms hugging her drown up leg.

For a moment Taina ponders if she might have hallucinated, as the smaller woman doesn't make any attempt to follow up on the greeting. She turns to move on to, when the voice speaks to her again.

 

“Don't just stand there, come in.” it demands. The voice is cheerful and Taina can't help but wonder why someone would address her with such lightheartedness. Presumably everyone was at least wary of her. Yet she obeys and enters the room. Hesitantly.

The clicking and moving looks random and aimless, but Taina can discern there is method and a purposeful rhythm to it. About a minute later the word 'Victory' shows on the screen, followed by the woman quickly unfolding her legs and spinning the chair around. She looks at the Brazilian almost expectantly, sizing her up through her fake glasses. Its not hard to determine, for her to be part of Six, her eyesight had to be twenty twenty.

 

“How could you tell I was outside?” Taina asks awkwardly, she still isn't sure what she's even supposed to do here, let alone what the other woman thought to achieve by asking her in.

 

“I just could. You are not invisible or anything.” she gives a non-answer and shrugs.

 

“You were facing the other direction, and no one ever hears me coming.” Taina replies slightly irritated by her answer. No one _ever_ does.

 

“I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.” the smaller woman replies and a wide smile appears on her face. There is something about it makes Taina completely uneasy, but she doesn't know why. Usually people are afraid of her.

 

“I don't think we have been introduced. I mean personally. I'm Grace.” the other woman states nonchalantly and gets up from the chair, prompting Taina to wince at the sudden movement.

 

“Taina, but you already knew that.” Taina musters an awkward reply, Grace's demeanor takes her entirely by surprise. She has a hard time keeping up her usual cold and detached self because of it. Something about her completely disarms the seasoned interrogator.

Just as she thinks she regained her composure Grace closes the distance between them, completely invading the Brazilian's person space in the process, and squeezes her in a hug that makes her uncomfortable in a was she didn't think was possible. Actually it reminds her of someone, but she doesn't want to go there.

 

“Nice to meet you!” Grace lets go of her, smiles again, and throws herself onto the bed. “What are you doing on a depressing evening like that?”

 

“I was just about to grab a beer from the mess.” Taina replies truthfully. She doesn't really know why. She supposes she is still gathering herself. Although she would rather figure out how to wind herself out of this.

 

“Mind if I join you?” Grace asks quickly. Her tone anticipates Taina's answer.

 

“I rather you--” She still tries to decline, but the Korean doesn't let her finish.

 

“That's cool too. You stay here, I'll get the beer.” she states definitely, and casually dances past the Brazilian, who doesn't fully understand what just happened. The thought if simply leaving doesn't even cross her mind.

About five minutes later they are sitting on the bed. Grace who is comfortably resting against the wall behind them, eyes her new friend intensively. Taina is sitting up, legs folded under her. She still looks like she's about to run. The thought of actually giving some bullshit excuse and making a beeline for the door wasn't beyond her.

 

“You are not that scary.” Grace states bluntly and out of context after a few minutes of awkward silence. Taina almost spills her drink through her nose, but quickly recovers, inflating her cheeks as her mouth fills with beer again.

 

“Excuse me.” She replies and tries to come off as affronted as possibly, although she knows how she appears to most people.

 

“Everyone seems to think you are some kind of inhuman monster. I think you aren't so bad.” Grace clarifies almost unnecessarily. “I had to see for myself though.”

 

Taina has no idea where she is going with this, but suddenly feels defensive.

 

“You don't know me. The things I did.” She replies insinuatingly. Something tells her to convince the Korean she's as bad as everyone thinks. The term 'antisocial personality disorder' crosses her mind.

 

“You are doing a bang-up job winning me over.” Grace chuckles and playfully slaps Taina's knee for emphasis.

 

“I have seen the tapes.” she adds, a serious expression on her face. “I think Bandit is worse.”

The statement is probably well-intentioned, but changes nothing.

 

“But it is different. I don't feel remorse.” Taina almost pleads for the Korean to also be wary and detest her. She doesn't know why it's so important to her for her to reject her too. After all they are practically strangers still.

 

“If you tell yourself long enough you probably believe it.” Grace replies and takes another sip from her bottle. She's not that far off the truth, but doesn't know it.

 

Taina thinks about more arguments, but concludes, if the other woman saw the tapes, and still doesn't believe her, there is no point in arguing at all. She still thinks Grace is a stubborn fool for doing so. She humphs and a takes a sip from her bottle too.

A few minutes pass without either of them saying something. Although Taina can see that it's somewhat of a struggle for the Korean. Apparently she wants her to say something next. The Brazilian thinks for a moment, then speaks.

 

“How can you even play these games?” It comes off like an insult.

 

“I don't know what you mean.” Grace replies, raising an eyebrow. She obviously knows what the other woman is getting at. She has heard all the arguments before.

 

“You know. You are a grownup woman, playing video games and dressing like you are in high school.” Taina clarifies. Now that she said it, it sounds more judgmental than she had intended. She almost regrets it and kind off feels sorry for saying it. Which is odd, hadn't she tried to figure something out that would eventually push away the other woman.

 

“Oh no, lo and behold I spend my time doing something that brings me joy, instead of adhering to some arbitrary, preconceived notion of maturity. Would you rather I'd sit around watching soap operas or reality shows getting drunk on red wine? I read Dostoyevsky yesterday if that's some consolation to you.” the smaller woman retorts. Her voice is filled with outrage and for a moment it seems like she's really hurt by the question. She wiggles her nose defiantly. Taina for some reason thinks its cute, it definitely reminds her of someone. She again pushes away the thought.

 

“And so you know, my clothes are very comfortable.” Grace adds less hostile, but still sharply. Only a moment later her tension eases again.

 

“Also, I had to kill some time, while my script is probing that server I'm currently.... _checking for security flaws_.” she appends cheerfully again, making air quotes, and smiles impishly. Taina wonders if these are mood swings or if she fakes being angry to begin with.

 

“Am I an accessory to a crime right now?” Taina inquires raising an eyebrow. She doesn't really think so, but on the other hand can't rule out the possibility. The other woman sort of radiates mischief. An irritating trait for a member of Six.

 

“No. What would make you think that?” Grace replies, pointedly placing her hand on her chest, feigning indignation at the suggestion. Apparently she already has forgotten their small altercation. Or is over it anyway.

 

“Anyways.” Taina surrenders after a few seconds. “I think 'll be on my way again.

 

Grace looks like she's about to object, but hums in disappointment and nods instead.

 

“See you around.” she calls after the Brazilian as she leaves. To Taina it sounds like a threat.

 

* * *

 

“Is there something I can do for you?” Taina pauses striking the punching back for a moment, and shoots the woman sitting on the windowsill next to her a questioning look.

 

“Not particularly, no.” Grace replies with one of those infuriatingly friendly smiles on her face. Her legs are dangling close above the ground playfully, as she plays one of her games on her tablet.

 

“Why are you here then?” Taina asks annoyed and braces her hands against her hips. The question is rhetorical really.

 

“It's a public room, and you have to come her some time. So I figured I'd meet you here.” she shrugs.

 

Much to Taina's dismay, somehow the annoyingly cheerful woman has found a way to attend any and all of her everyday activities whenever they are at the base together. Suddenly catching up to her on her morning runs; Hanging around the gym when ever she manages to shove in her usual alone time; And even miraculously showing up when she silently sits down over dinner at one of the tables in the mess. It is wearing her down.

 

“I'm not in the mood for talking.” she tries to reason with the Korean again. It's a futile attempt.

 

“So you say. Every time.” Grace replies unfazed and shrugs again. She doesn't seem to have any intentions to cease following her around any time soon.

 

Taina blinks owlishly, then grunts and proceeds with beating up the dummy.

 

“Tell you what; _If_ you get me to tap out I'll leave you alone” Grace suggests out of the blue, casually nodding her head towards the large mat in the middle of the gym. “If _I_ win, you stop avoiding me, and talk to me when I want, or at least from time to time.” she adds almost portentously.

 

A glint flashes in Taina's eyes. She is taller than the other woman and has easily ten kilos on her. She thinks she's probably also proficient in some martial art, but still deems her an easy target. Hand-to-hand combat is one of her specialties after all. She still fakes thinking about it for a moment, then agrees confidently, assuming an easy enough win. And her eventual freedom.

A few minutes later the other woman has changed into gym shorts and a sports bra. She still wears the slouchy though. Their height difference really underscores the size advantage Taina has on her. Albeit also very trained and muscular Grace's frame is a lot more slender then the other woman's. Nevertheless her movements are also more nimble and delicate, as she lightly bounces from one feet to the other while warming up and stretching. Taina notices with a mixture of horror and annoyance she's finds the smaller woman quite attractive. A feeling she wouldn't usually give in to, for some time now.

 

“You want best of three or something?” Grace asks courteously as they put on the sparing gloves. Taina only waves the suggestion aside. She doesn't want to take any chances. “No backsies!” the Korean adds, shoving her gumshield into her mouth. There suddenly is something about her expression that makes Taina uneasy again. It's something that isn't there, suspense. She looks like she knows she already won.

 

Their fight lasts less than ninety seconds. At first they trade lukewarm punches and low kicks, before Taina routinely goes for a grapple, which Grace barely fends off, so she thinks. They wrestle for a while, going back and forth with grips and holds, then Taina sees and opening, or what she thinks is one, and goes for it. With a quick jump she throws her weight towards the Korean's side in an attempt to get her into an arm bar, but as their weight shifts while they start to fall towards the ground, Grace somehow is suddenly above her shoulders, pulling Taina's torso towards her, taking her down into a headlock with all her weight. The Brazilian is taken by surprise and barely manages to retract her limbs in a way that will minimize the impact. A blink of an eye later they hit the mat. Grace on her back, the surprised Taina on top of her, her neck entangled by the Korean's arm.

For a brief moment she tries to free her head by punching and kicking what part of Grace's body she gets a hold of. It's no use. With an annoyed grunt she slams down her hand on the mat, prompting the other woman to immediately let go of her. After a few seconds Taina awkwardly rolls her weight of Grace's body. Lying on her back she contemplates what went wrong and the implications of her defeat.

 

“Guess I win.” Grace announces nonchalantly, as she pulls herself up into a sitting position. Her gloating is barely noticeable. She deliberately tries to hide her excitement.

 

“I would ask how you did that.” Taina replies sheepishly, and sits up herself.

 

“But I'd have to kill you.” Grace responds and smiles at her, before quickly getting up and reaching out to pull the Brazilian up too. When they finally both stand again, they are very close to each other. Taina recoils as their faces are only centimeters apart, height difference or not. Grace frowns, but then shrugs lightly to herself, as Taina slips away, mumbling something in Portuguese she can't decipher.

 

* * *

 

“You tried to grapple with Dokkaebi?” Vincente clearly tries to suppress a laugh.

 

Taina wouldn't often talk to anyone around Six, but if she needs advice or some kind of comfort she'd usually turn to her the older man she knows for some time and who always accepted her for what she is. She gives him a question look in response, as she has no idea what he's getting at.

 

“She came in second in the world championship when she was nineteen.” Vincente states before breaking into an amicable laugh. “And _then_ they trained her to be a special forces soldier.” he adds, still laughing. Taina knows he is not laughing _at_ her, she still feels not taken seriously.

 

“She set me up.” Taina mumbles lividly. But she knows it was her own hubris that earned her the loss.

 

“ _You_ accepted the wager, didn't you?” he teases and winks at her with his good eye.

 

“Maybe this will be a good thing. You have been even less of a social person since--” he tried to add, but is interrupted.

 

“I don't want to talk about it.” Taina cuts him off with finality in her voice.

 

“It's been years. You _should_ talk about it. We both know the psychologist only signed off on you back then, because they practically ordered him to.” Vincente replies, his voice ringing with almost fatherly concern.

 

“But he did, and that's all that matters.” She almost snaps, quickly gets up and leaves before he can say anything more, leaving him shaking his head. She really doesn't want to talk about it.

 

* * *

 

“Have you ever tried not brooding?” Grace pipes up. She has been sitting opposite her _friend_ , patiently watching her clean her gun, a task she had insisted had meditative qualities to her. But it also is boring to watch, and Grace can already point out about a docent things she could have done to finish the task faster. Taina doesn't reply and pretends she didn't hear her, only staring at her gun more intensely.

 

“I mean, with all the face paint and the black clothes; Have you considered joining the bat family? You could be the next Batwoman. She's gay though. Don't know if that's a prerequisite.” Grace states a moment later. Not a single word of that statement makes any sense to the Brazilian. Well, except for one. She looks up slightly bewildered, questioning why Grace would bring that up this casually or how that was a subject she wanted to talk to her about. Almost nobody that didn't know her _before_ knows, and she's fairly sure it isn't in her dozier. Incidentally its also a close second on the lists of things she doesn't want to talk about. Not that she wants to talk to the Korean at all, obviously.

 

“Why don't you go and annoy your boyfriend for a bit and we see each other for dinner?” she tries to change the subject and get Grace off her case. To her surprise the other woman bites almost immediately.

 

“My _boyfriend_?” Grace goes through a few different grimaces as she apparently thinks about the question, completely ignoring the inherent insult. “Oh, you mean Masaru! No, no, no we are just really good friends. I'm currently in between relationships.” she states nonchalantly, but her smile is sheepish and she half averts her eyes.

 

“Also, he's really into blonds.” she wiggles her eye brows suggestively, and looks at Taina again cheerfully, even though she knows she doesn't care for gossip of any kind.

 

“Do _you_ have someone special?” she adds, still wiggling her eyebrows. A flash of discomfort passes Taina's face.

 

“No, I do not.” she replies curtly. It almost sounds rehearsed.

 

“What's your type?” Grace goes on unwaveringly needling her, while Taina already regrets bringing the subject up at all. “I bet you have lots of admirers.”

 

“Not exactly. Not that I'm interested in anyway.” Taina adds under her breath, and purses her lips a second later, regretting the slip-up.

 

“So you have a type.” the Korean states triumphantly, prompting the other woman to sigh heavily.

 

“You can ask me a single question that is not about or related to this subject and I promise I'll answer truthfully if you drop _th_ _is_ subject.” Taina offers almost desperately. She is almost completely worn down by the interrogation. To her surprise Grace accepts quasi immediately, without so much as thinking about it.

 

“What do you do for fun? And I don't mean like, beating up dummies, polishing your knife collection or the likes. What does Taina Pereira, the private citizen do for fun?” She asks right away, like she was about to do so anyway.

 

Taina frowns for a bit, contemplating the question, and the chances the Korean would be able to spot a lie. It's been years since she had the kind of fun Grace is referring to.

 

“I used to dance.” she answers neutrally. The most truthful answer she can think of. Grace is obviously not entirely satisfied with it.

 

“Like what, ballet?” she inquires. Somehow she can't picture the tall woman in a tutu or other kind of dance dress. Although the thought _is_ kind of funny. Tall, and awe-inspiring, scowling through a lot a makeup... in a pink tutu.

 

“Mostly Samba, but also Salsa and other Latin dances.” Taina specifies, still very brief.

 

“But these are all partner dances.” Grace follows up. Taina raises her index finger, reminding her of the terms of her answer. The way her expression darkens while doing so, signals the other woman to not further pursue the matter. She's a bit disappointed by the answer, although she doesn't know what she expected.

 

Grace takes a moment to chuckle at the mental image of her friend wearing a Brazilian carnival costume, then gets up from her seat opposite to her.

 

“See you at dinner then.”

 


	2. Don't You Forget About Me

It is one of the recently very rare occasions when Taina gets to eat in peace, without the small Korean woman disturbing her. For a brief moment she even thinks she misses her presence. She supposes it can't be helped after two weeks of having her around more or less constantly.

Just as she is about to go on with her meal, the shape of a person appears in her view. She sighs heavily as she raises her head. To her surprise she doesn't find Grace beaming at her, but Kapkan's dark eyes scrutinizing her from across the table. Unlike Grace's cheerfulness, his threatening scowl does nothing to her. If anything his presence annoys her. Taina takes a look around to check if by any chance there are no other seats available. Unsurprising to her, the mess is completely empty, except for Glaz and Finka lurking in one of the corners, looking over to where they sit rather invested. Taina mourns the times when people would avoid her, instead of coming and going as they pleased. She sighs again before lifting her head for good.

 

“Is there something I can do for you?” The Brazilian finds herself asking the question far to often lately. The tension in his posture eases a bit, but he still gives her a stern look.

 

“What exactly do you think you are doing?” he ask. Apparently she is supposed to know what he means by that.

 

“Currently I'm trying to have some alone time, but evidently it's not meant to be.” she states sarcastically and leans back, now looking at him directly, her arms crossed.

 

“I'm just here to warn you to not mess with Gracie.” the Russian issues grimly. Taina only frowns; He isn't actually there to protect the other woman from her, is he? If anything _she_ is the one who needs protection. She opts to try and be conciliatory. For now.

 

“I can assure you, I'm not doing anything.” she replies dryly. “Literally.”

 

“Why do you spend so much time with her then?” he inquires, obviously not entirely convinced by her assertion.

 

“I don't know if you noticed, but she is a bit... affectionate.” Something tells her they already tried to have this conversation with Grace. Probably to no end, as to be expected. Her annoyance increases by the minute, but there is no chance she could take all three of them. She entertains the thought though, just for a second. Maybe if Kapkan wasn't there. Glaz is too much in love with his rifle, and the woman has a temper, an easy flaw to exploit.

 

“Why her though? I assume you are not going to change your ways just about now.” There is an uncomfortable amount of judgment in his voice.

 

A million snappy to outright hostile replies go through her mind. Insulting their mothers is up there, together with a few other things she would never consider to actually utter. Some things are nobodies business.

 

“She reminds me of someone I used to know.” she states instead. It's mostly the truth. Together with 'I literally tried to run. She doesn't care.'

Kapkan notices a distinct hurt in her expression when she answers the question. Otherwise it's nothing but the truth. A truth that apparently makes the woman who is said to have no feelings at all, uncomfortable. His expression softens immediately.

 

“Sorry for bothering you.” he adds politely, before getting up and leaving. The pair on the other side of the room gestures wildly and gives him a barrage of questioning looks. Apparently they expected a different outcome.

 

* * *

 

When Taina enters the small police station near the building where she lives, or better, were she usually receives her mail to, she doesn't know what to expect. An old colleague of her has send her a message, requesting for her to come to the station for clarification in a matter supposedly involving her. She figured they had probably closed an old case, because a dealer or gang member has been shot by one of his pears over some trivial dispute.

When she approaches the desk, the office manning it greets her with a wordless nod of his head, and waves her past him, signaling for her to go right into the office behind him.

To her surprise inside the office she is greeted by Grace with an almost happy grin. The Korean is seated on a chair, playing one of her stupid games on her tablet, while the officer apparently working her case, or what ever this is, just raises an eyebrow at Taina, requesting her to cooperate whatever story Grace has given him.

 

“What the hell are you doing here?” Taina demands in an unexpectedly harsh tone, crossing her arms in front of her body.

 

“We are both on leave, so I figured I'd come visit you. Travel the world, meet interesting people and all that.” Grace replies nonchalantly, as if it is the most natural thing to just show up at peoples doorsteps half way around the world.

 

“Right.” the brunette grunts in reply. “And you got lost wandering the streets and got picked up by an officer?”

 

“I never get lost.” Grace waves her tablet, that infuriating happy smirk on her face. Taina contemplates just walking out again.

 

“How come we are standing inside a police station then?” she says instead. She really doesn't care that much, actually she is more interested what came over Grace to suddenly decide to come visit her in Rio, but then again she doesn't need much reason to do anything once she had set her mind, which she usually does on a whim.

 

“Funny thing.” The sentence alone indicates there won't be anything remotely funny about it at all. Taina knits her eyebrows together and pinches the bridge of her nose. “So I was walking towards where you live, according to you dozier anyway, well 'walking', it was more a stroll really, when this guy comes up to me and tries to snatch my tablet. So I snapped his wrist. But then his friend who was walking a few steps behind me tried to take my backpack and pulled a gun on me. Shitty old revolver actually. I tried to reason with him, but he apparently didn't speak English.” she almost rambles.

 

“And then?” Taina looks at her in disbelieve.

 

“He pointed his gun downwards, as he reached for my backpack. So I took it from him and shot him. Then his other friends ran.” She shrugs, as if she doesn't see any problem.

 

After Grace is done telling the story, Taina picks up the folder on her colleagues desk, and quickly skims through it. When she puts down the folder, she nods towards the other office and says something in Portuguese, prompting him to wave his hand in the exits direction uninterestedly. Obviously he's glad there is one thing less for him to worry about.

 

“You are free to go. Do you have somewhere to stay, or did you plan on sleeping on my doorstep?”

 

“Actually....” With a jaunty jump the woman gets off the chair, quickly stretching her legs, and beams at her friend expectantly. Taina scratches her forehead comping through her hairline, and sighs loudly.

 

“You can stay with me. For _one_ night.” The Brazilian obviously tries come off as stern as possible. Grace nonetheless marks it down as a victory.

 

* * *

 

Grace has half expected Taina to live in a corrugated-iron shack, only with a mattress, and her gun to keep her company. So she is pleasantly surprised when they arrived at the, admittedly pretty rundown, apartment building in one of the less glamorous parts of the city. With a few strokes of her fingers the hotel room she had booked for the night is canceled. She is optimistic; Not stupid.

 

“Don't listen to the yelling. The neighbors like for everyone to partake in their domestic disputes.” Taina states when they arrive at her doorstep.

 

“You mean like Maxim and Timur?” the Asian smiles, rocking back and forth on her heels.

 

Taina again questions how the Korean woman is a distinguished elite soldier, then almost habitually rolls her eyes and turns the key, letting them both inside.

 

The hot pants wearing Asian immediately throws herself on the old, worn-out couch right in the middle of the living room slash kitchen, while the other woman casually gets rid of her shirt and pants and slips into a pair of green running shorts. Leaving her upper body only clad in the bikini top she had been wearing as a bra. Grace takes far to much time admiring the view of her friends muscular body, something she somehow has missed out on during their fight. To her surprise Taina even wears her hair open now, a completely unfamiliar sight. But a nice one, she thinks. There is a rather visible bullet scar on the left side of her abdomen. Grace makes a mental note to ask her about it later.

 

“Who is your friend?” she quickly gestures at the framed picture on the small table next to the couch, feeling caught as Taina turns towards her again. She meets Grace's gaze halfway, practically catches her gaping at her, but either doesn't notice or doesn't say anything. Grace isn't sure what she prefers.

The picture shows the Brazilian officer and a dark skinned woman. Both of them wear bright blue police uniforms. The woman has long curly hair she bound in a ponytail, and grins at the camera happily. There is something odd about her complexion; She has slightly almond-shaped eyes and there is a certain softness to her facial structure that doesn't really matches the rest.

They are hugging each other behind their backs and Taina smiles, even if it's a reserved smile, as the woman that wasn't Taina raises the back of her left hand towards the camera; Her fingers are slightly spread as if she was showing off something. Grace can't help but note that she had never seen Taina remotely this happy.

 

“That's Mariana, she was... a _friend_.”

 

“Was?” the Korean sits up cross-legged, and scans her friends face for clues as to how good of 'friends' they had been.

 

“She got killed in the line of duty.” Taina replies dryly and without showing any emotion. It's this certain aura of almost sorrowfulness, but not quite, that surrounds her every time the Korean inquires about her love life or her past. Grace also notices the way she is rubbing the spot in her finger were she'd usually expect a wedding band.

 

“You must have been very close. I have never seen you this happy.” She replies bluntly. Grace isn't dumb. Or dense. Actually she is usually the smartest person in every room she enters. And very observant for that matter. She naturally has drawn the obvious conclusion already, but knows the Brazilian well enough to not ask her directly. Taina usually avoids the subject in an open discussion; The chances of her answering any question relating to her observation are probably close to nonexistent.

 

“We _were_.” Taina replies eventually as if it answers any and all questions Grace might have about it. The Korean only frowns because she isn't sure whether her friend takes her for a fool, or really thinks it isn't obvious.

 

“I am very sorry. I shouldn't have asked.” Grace replies eventually out of politeness. She would have preferred for Taina to feel comfortable enough to tell her. She _must_ be thinking of her as a friend by now. At least Grace hopes she is. Regardless the fierce and ever gloomy woman starts to make a whole lot more of sense to her. For a moment she even marvels how the Brazilian had managed to keep that kind of information out of her file.

 

* * *

 

Since Taina owns neither a TV nor an internet connection, and, much to the Korean's dismay, mobile connectivity isn't great either, they settle for spending the rest of the evening hanging out on the small balcony of the apartment, having a drink. It has been a warm summer day, and even as the sun sets, there is still a muggy heat outside; Grace even gets rid of the slouchy. Before they head outside, she notices several empty bottles of Cachaça and beer around the apartment, but doesn't ask. She made a habit of studying every bit of behavior the other woman exhibits when they are at the base together, and this would be the first clue to assume anything in this regard, so she quickly settles for a lack of neatness.

While they are sitting, and enjoying the day coming to an end, Grace enthusiastically talks about her day wandering around Rio, her last unsanctioned hack that she is really proud of, although Taina isn't really sure why she'd confide something like that into her, and that e-sports event, in which, as she assures her, one of the players had revolutionized the way people played 'Zerg' this 'season' _._ Taina assumes it's something good. She only looks up from time to time when Grace asks her a question to check if she is still with her, and otherwise seems to be lost in thought.

 

As the end of the evening draws closer Taina on a maybe slightly drunken whim offers her friend the other half of her bed instead of the couch. She doesn't think much of it and at the time doesn't guess she would in the morning either. They more or less half drunkenly stumble over to the bedroom and fall asleep right away, after Taina just manages to hand Grace one of her tops as a makeshift nightgown. They see each other naked, but due to the nature of their occupation, neither of them thinks anything of it. Any remaining awkwardness on either part is washed away by the alcohol.

 

When Taina wakes in the morning, it's already approaching noon and there is apparently a jackhammer running wild behind her eyes. A not all to unfamiliar feeling. With a quiet groan she opens her eyes and to her surprise finds the smaller woman cuddling against her side, the a-size-too-large tank top not entirely sure what it was supposed to cover to begin with. She catches her jar drop, and forcibly averts her eyes, quickly searching her mind for any indication of boundaries being crossed the evening before, but sighs in relief as she finds she can remember every moment of it, and there weren't any. Although the image of the naked woman is edged into her memory as well.

Once she's fully conscious, she starts to feel guilty. The other side of the bed has been empty for over three years now. It was when she finally moved out of _their_ apartment and has been ever since. No friend, to random one-night-stand and most certainly no love interest, has ever shared this bed. _Their_ bed. The more she thinks about it, the more upset she gets. But it's stupid. There _is_ a certain comfort she has almost forgotten about, sure. And their closeness--; _Okay, she thinks of her as friend_ , she admits to herself;--is something she has missed. But she doesn't have any feelings for her.Why is she so upset then? She can't blame Grace either.The small Korean is maybe the second most friendly and happy person she has ever met, and most likely didn't think much of it, when she offered for her to share the bed.

 

She reflexively reaches towards her nightstand and retrieves the thin silver necklace holding an unadorned silver ring, that was hanging from the bedside lamp. She encloses the ring in her fist and places it close to her heart.

As she chastises herself, the other woman rolls away from her, the warm summer morning makes contact almost unbearable, and is now resting on her stomach, her limbs wildly stretched out, as her arm is hanging of the side of the bed. The broken contact offers some relief.

 

When Grace finally wakes from her slumber, Taina is still sitting there, intensively eying the ring she is fumbling with in her hand, not even noticing her sitting up next to her. She only realizes Grace is awake when the smaller woman suddenly shoots up next her and starts stretching and yawning, like a cat that spent the whole morning sunbathing. If she is hungover she doesn't show it and instead wrinkles her nose, looking at the sun through the half open blinds.

 

“Good Morning! What time is it?” Grace finally greets the Brazilian, already completely upbeat, through half-open eyes.

 

Taina doesn't reply at first, and only absentmindedly turns towards her, once she waves her hand between her eyes and her hand. For a moment Grace frowns at the sad expression on her friends face and anew contemplates addressing the topic directly, but opts to instead retrieve her phone from the nightstand to check for messages and the time.

A moment later she feels something isn't right with her attire. Somehow it feels a bit _drafty_ , as a soft flow of warm air sweeps through the room towards the still open balcony door.

 

“Woopsy!” she exclaims nonchalantly and starts tugging the top back in place. “Didn't want to assault you with these.” she states all too cheerfully and smiles impishly. Patently she isn't the least bit uncomfortable with it.

 

Her expression drops quickly as she notices Taina still brooding over the ring in her hand. Grace really want her to open up to her. She has to bite her lip to not blurt out the demand. It's a long shot, but she eventually decides to go along with her original plan to rope the Brazilian into showing her around the city.

 

“Do you mind spending the day together? I'm only leaving late this evening.” Grace inquires casually. At first Taina doesn't so much as makes an attempt to reaction to her question, but eventually looks at her.

 

“Actually, I have a lot to do today. I'm sorry, I can't.” She states definitively. It's obviously a lie; They both know, and Taina knows Grace knows. Her voice is distanced and her look is rejecting at best. Grace grimaces for a moment and suppresses the urge to pick a fight about it. She even opens her mouth as the impulse to reason based on the assumption it wasn't a lie, but eventually thinks better of it. Maybe she didn't want to spend time with her at all to begin with and is too polite to say something. Grace had wrangled her way into her life after all. The thought creates a sudden rush of sadness.

 

“That's unfortunate.” the Korean states casually, intent on not showing how upset she actually was with the reply. “Hope you don't mind if I borrow some water.” She adds. “Then I'll be on my way. Thanks for having me.” Grace tries really hard to gloss over the disappointment in her face with one of her smiles. For a moment she wonders if there is a point in suggesting having breakfast together, but she doesn't want to take another rejection. Or maybe can't. Taina only nods acknowledging and quickly gets preoccupied in thought again. Grace can feel her heart twist because of her indifference. She tells herself it's because she doesn't want to see her friend like this.

 


	3. Stop! In The Name Of Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm particularly unsure whether this fits or not. It seemed like a good idea when I wrote it. But after going over it maybe a few times too often I'm not completely sure. Think of it as a bonus chapter if you will.

“ _Stop!” The slightly breathless voice of a woman shouts after the man racing down the small alley on foot. He wears cheep clothes, carries a knife in one hand and a half-open backpack full of money in the other, and proceeds with his flight unfazed, no matter how often she shouts after him. The police officer following him at roughly the same pace is a rather small, dark skinned woman with dark curly hair; She wears a blue police uniform, and carries a baton in her left hand. Her partner, a tall, lean man follows a few steps behind her, shouting something into his radio, as they race past rundown buildings and shacks._

_The chase goes on for another minute, every second brings the man closer to the outskirts of the favela, where it isn't save for them to enter without reinforcements. In fact they are dangerously close already. She doesn't make any attempts to stop though. They round a corner. And another one, and another one._

_Behind the next corner the fugitives run comes to a sudden end, when his chest violently collides with the stock of a rifle. The change of trajectory forces him into a backflip. A moment later he grunts in pain and his back hits the ground. He has trouble breathing and is disoriented after hitting his head on the pavement. When he finally managers to open his eyes again, still disoriented, there is a group of police officers, dressed entirely in black, standing around him. The woman who apparently ended his flight so abruptly has her boot on his chest holding him down, the two others point their rifles directly at his face. He can't really see their faces as they wear balaclavas, except for the woman, who wears makeup resembling a skull. Their attire doesn't help making the experience less frightening._

 

“ _She said 'Stop'” the terrifyingly cold voice of the woman standing over him states. A few seconds later the officer who has been chasing him also rounds the corner._

 

“ _Whoa.” She exclaims as she becomes fully aware of the scene._

 

“ _We didn't know you guys were operating in this area.” she adds after catching her breath for a moment, and her partner rounds the corner too._

 

“ _That's the point.” The woman wearing the strange face paint replies condescendingly and her team mates chuckle._

 

“ _No need to be an asshole about it.” the small dark skinned woman retorts snappily and casually blows a curly strain of hair out of her field of view._

 

_One of the BOPE officers quietly whistles at her. The small woman glares at him for a moment, but doesn't say anything._

 

“ _Do you want to take credit for the arrest?” She asks. Her tone makes it sound like an insult._

 

_The expression of her partner quickly turns apologetic and he raises his hands in a placating gesture, as her slightly steps in between them. It looks like he anticipates for her to pick a fight with the other officers. Instead she intensively eyes the taller woman with the face paint for a moment, apparently waiting for her reply._

 

“ _You can have him.” the taller woman finally breaks the silence and steps of the man's chest. For some reason her voice is much more friendly now._

 

“ _I'm officer Oliveira, and this is officer Ribeiro.” the smaller woman states conciliatory, as officer Ribeiro cuffs the man at their feet._

 

“ _But you can call me Mariana.” She adds, and winks at the other woman not so subtly. Both of the men in black share a short laugh, prompting her to glare at them._

 

“ _You haven't told me your name yet, officer Pereira.” Mariana follows up suggestively after few seconds of awkward silence._

 

_How do you--” Caveira begins slightly baffled._

 

“ _I can read.” the smaller woman replies cheerfully and points at the small strip of fabric on her vest, denominating her name and her blood type, as her partner 'helps up' their detainee._

 

“ _Oh, right. I'm Taina.” she replies sheepishly, and doesn't really know why she even bothers to answer her question._

 

“ _So, Taina, are you free this evening?” Mariana follows up again. The way the taller woman's face grimaces at her line of questioning and her colleagues apparently enjoy the ordeal, only encourage her._

 

“ _I don't think--” Taina tries to wind herself out of the obvious suggestion._

 

“ _You don't think I'm attractive?” Mariana pouts playfully._

 

_It would be an understatement, that Taina does feel uncomfortable right now. She thinks the woman is very attractive though. And incredibly unprofessional._

 

“ _You haven't even seen my face yet.” Taina protests, or defends, or whatever._

 

“ _But I can see your eyes. Come on. Don't be a killjoy.” She challenges with the full force of her insolence. “I don't bite. I also have to thank you for catching my guy.” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. Her partner seems to be just as uncomfortable with her demeanor as the other woman. Something about her throws the otherwise cold and composed Taina completely off. She is almost unable to think straight._

 

“ _Your loss.” The smaller woman states nonchalantly after another moment of awkward silence, shrugs, and turns away. Maybe she was wrong about her. It happens._

 

“ _Nice to meet you guys, anyway.” she adds, collecting the backpack full of money from the ground._

 

“ _No, its alright, we can go for a drink or something.” Taina hastily replies, almost tripping over herself._

 

“ _Are you sure? You took an awful lot of time to think about it. I don't want you to come if you don't really want to. And waste everybody's time.” Mariana raises an eyebrow._

 

“ _Its not... I'm just... Just give me your card. I'll call you later.” Taina practically stammers._

 

_The small exchange took less than two minutes, but to Taina it felt like an eternity. When the two patrol officers drag the robber away, Taina holds the other woman's phone number between her fingers, still in disbelieve of what just transpired._

 


	4. Big In Japan

It's been almost a week since Taina has returned stateside, but Grace is nowhere to be seen, even though the Brazilian knows for a fact she went straight back to base from Brazil. While as usual brooding over her food, Taina eyes the empty seat opposite of her, and contemplates why exactly, now that she supposedly got what she wanted all along, she feels this miserable over the fact that Grace isn't there to brighten her day with her stupid friendliness, her unwavering cheerfulness, and her infuriating positivity. And that annoying smile of hers.

Taina eventually tries to call her, _a few times_ , to no avail. She spends about a day irrationally worrying something might have happened to her, going back and forth about inconspicuously inquiring about her with admin, then decides to go look after her herself. Out of general concern for her wellbeing obviously.

 

* * *

 

Taina easily sneaks through the building. She comes across a few people, even other Six members, but the way she dims down her presence makes them ignore her as she slips past them. She could be a mailman, or a janitor; No one takes notice of her if she doesn't want to.

When she arrives at the door on the third floor she takes a deep breath, removes the hood from her head, and knocks.

After a few seconds commotion can be heard from inside; Two people speaking. “Fine, I'll get it.”

The door finally opens, and in front of her appears the figure of Hibana, who immediately starts eying her suspiciously. Taina tries to look past the sweatpants wearing Japanese woman for a moment, but can't discern anything beyond the general vicinity of the door.

 

“Can I help you?” Hibana asks after the Brazilian doesn't say anything for a few seconds. Her voice is not overly friendly, but doesn't carry the amount of animosity Taina is used to from the other operators. Well except for Grace obviously. Taina definitely needs another moment though.

 

“I... is Grace there?” She manages to get out, even though its sounds less than confident.

 

“I'm not at liberty to say.” Hibana replies half jokingly, but demonstratively blocks the path with her arm on the door frame. Taina looks at her helplessly, and wonders why they even would choose to share an apartment when both of them are entitled to their own. It would certainly make this easier.

 

“Ryu. No!” Grace's very familiar voice suddenly calls out from inside; A second later a rather large, gray striped cat comes racing around the corner behind Hibana, and makes a beeline for the door.

 

“Yumiko, get him!” The voice calls again. Hibana quickly spins around in place and hunkers down, but the cat seems to have anticipated her movement, and, surprisingly agile for his weight class, quickly changes direction, outmaneuvering the woman behind her back. Unfortunately his new path leads him to directly jump into the Brazilian's arms, who is quick-thinking enough to grab him before he can wind his way past her. A moment later Grace's body comes into view, helplessly flailing her arms, Laptop still in one hand; Just for a brief moment though, as she apparently slipped on the flooring while trying to quickly round the corner to follow the cat's path, and goes down with a loud rumbling somewhere beyond the door, followed by a flurry of what Taina can already distinguish to be Korean curse words.

 

“Since, you caught the man of the house, please come in.” the Japanese woman states in a resigning, but cheerful tone, and waves Taina past her and into the apartment.

 

When Taina finally steps into the large room, the cat, apparently his name is 'Ryu', still tugged under her forearm, Grace is sitting cross-legged where she went down, and is already typing on the computer again.

 

“Hey.” Taina says awkwardly and releases Ryu, who lets out a short hiss, but then casually brushes past her leg a few times before settling on top of one of the cabinets on the wall with a quick jump.

Grace looks up slightly bewildered, seemingly she hadn't fully realized Taina's presence until now, then looks questioningly at Yumiko, who only shrugs and waves her hand dismissively, indicating this is non of her business. Nevertheless she makes a point of walking over to the door of what must be her room, and demonstratively closes it _behind her_.

Grace quickly closes the laptop and is now looking at Taina expectantly. Unfortunately the other woman hasn't planed this far ahead. Or at least her plan had consisted of a very basic layout. Go to the apartment. Get past Hibana. And at this point she had assumed things would get a lot easier. Which evidently they do not.

 

“Hey.” Grace eventually replies meaningfully. She looks up at the other woman, who by now regrets letting go of the fury safety line.

 

“You haven't been around much the past few days.” Taina starts to feel her way into the conversation.

 

“I didn't know you would appreciate my company.” Grace states maybe a bit too accusingly. After she had returned from her short trip to Rio, at first she didn't think much of the other woman's reaction that morning. But the longer she didn't see her, the more her thoughts had revolved around how she probably didn't want to to be with her in the first place, and how she forced herself onto the Brazilian. After all Masaru is always criticizing her for showering people who don't reciprocate her feelings, even as friends, with affection until they'd eventually push her away. So in the end she felt really dumb for trying, while Taina obviously didn't want her around. It's the one feeling she can't deal with.

 

“I do very much.” the taller woman establishes with all the seriousness she can muster. Even though she has to force herself to hold Grace's gaze.

 

For half a minute Grace doesn't say anything, and looks like she is about to cry, repeatedly wrinkling her nose and squinting her eyes tellingly, while pressing her mouth shut. Taina is nearly about to turn around and leave, because she doesn't say anything, when the Korean finally gets up and wordlessly encloses her in a hug, swallowing a single quiet sob as she does so.

 

Taina just stands there, stiff and motionless, and takes it. Only after a few seconds lifting her arms to return the gesture. She _does_ understand why Grace might feel the way she apparently does, but doesn't really get the intensity of her reaction. They have been apart for no more than a week, and it's not like she has been avoiding _her_.

 

“I'm sorry, I'm being stupid.” Grace says after breaking the contact again. “Pride of the ROKA right there.” she adds quietly sniffing, and sadly chuckles to herself.

 

Taina has a soft expression on her face, the smaller woman cannot quite place. It's not pity, that much she can discern.

 

So, do you still want to hang out?” Grace asks feebly after a moment, but with her usual decisiveness.

 

Taina raises her brows, but doesn't object, and is quickly pulled onto the couch with the other woman.

 

When Yumiko leaves her room late in the evening, the living room is completely dark, except for the TV, where the credits of Grace's favorite movie, _Duelist_ , roll next to a set of suggestions what to watch next. She squints into the darkness, and after a few seconds can make out the shape of the two women occupying opposite ends of the couch. Apparently both of them are asleep. Notably Grace is practically lying down in the couch, with her legs resting in Taina's lap, who sits curled into the corner of her end of the couch, arms crossed.

When Grace had described their supposed relationship after she returned, Yumiko had, as would usually be the case, assumed the Korean was highly exaggerating her version of the story. After all, the always scowling woman habitually avoids all personal contact beyond participating in their joint missions. Which she does with upmost professionalism, something all of them quietly acknowledge.

Yumiko shakes her head in disbelieve, and at the same time smiles at the fact, her bubbly and cheerful roommate had even managed to win over _the_ Caveira. For a brief moment she thinks she hopes _things will work out_ for them. Albeit she is pretty sure neither of them knows what that would even suppose to mean; Grace had vigorously denied any suggestion in that regard.

Still with a smile on her face, the Japanese grabs the bottle she came for from the fridge, and, after throwing a blanket over the two of them and turning off the TV, quietly vanishes back into her room.

 

Taina wakes to the strange sensation of a cat quasi walking around on her face. Luckily for him, it's almost impossible to startle her, even when sleeping, so she only opens her eyes somewhat bewildered. After slowly blinking once, she cautiously reaches for the end of his tail and gives it a slight tug, prompting him to quickly jump of the backrest, and rushing up to the spot he had occupied for most of the evening.

She takes a quick look around to gain a sense of orientation. The sun is already completely bathes the room in daylight. She carefully lifts up Grace's legs. Luckily the Korean possesses the incredible ability to change her alertness at will before going to sleep, so unlike during missions, it would be nigh impossible to wake her right now. When she gets up, Hibana just places a large mug of coffee on the opposite side of the kitchen counter. Evidently she has gone about her business for some time now. Taina gladly accepts the beverage. She has had it worse before, but nonetheless feels whacked by the uncomfortable sleeping position.

 

“Thank you, Hibana.” she replies to the gesture, earning her an irritated look in response.

 

“'Yumiko'. We are not in the field, and you just had a sleepover in our living room.” the other woman insists and gestures for her to take seat.

 

“Yumiko.” Taina repeats after her and complies.

 

A few minutes go by without either of them saying something. Beyond the obvious, there is not a whole lot for them to discuss. Taina quietly takes sip from her coffee.

 

“So, what exactly are your intentions with my daughter.” Yumiko deadpans in the most ridiculously serious tone and looks her dead in the eye.

 

Spilling still pretty hot coffee through your nose is not an overly pleasant experience.

 

“I'm just messing with you.” Yumiko suppresses a laugh as the Brazilian coughs, and barely manages to put the mug down without spilling it over the counter. She still goes through a series of grimaces before regaining her composure.

 

“We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Grace seems happy, so I don't have any objections.” the Japanese states empathetically.

Taina blinks at her owlishly for a second. Her first impulse is to protest, but really, it's non of the other woman's business, and she doesn't feel like discussing it right now, so she slightly purses her lips and just nods acknowledging, then takes another sip from the coffee.

 

“You can stay for breakfast if you want.” Yumiko offers after another long period of silence. “But you don't need to wait. Grace probably won't wake for another hour.”

 

“I thought as much.” Taina replies, thinking of the morning in Rio.

 

“Thanks for the coffee.” Taina says after drinking the last sip from her mug. “I think I'll be on my way. Tell Grace I said hello.”

 

“Don't worry.” Yumiko replies meaningfully, and smiles again.

 

* * *

 

Yumiko has spend most of the evening questioning why exactly she needed to be there. Well, she has a very good idea, why she needs to be there, actually. She is supposed to be the buffer. Which is ridiculous frankly. She had agreed to not telling any of their friends about the fact that Taina was, admittedly by virtue of Grace dragging the Brazilian along, practically living with them for the last two weeks. Which is fine by her she supposes. None of them have the same access to Grace's world like her, and even she isn't entirely over the way Taina's demeanor changes around Grace. So she understands why the Korean thinks the others would have reservations.

 

But sitting here, watching the painfully awkward way the Brazilian tried to avoid Grace's unconscious advances-- Yes _unconscious_ ; She still insists she's making a friend here. --while the oblivious Korean makes sheep's eyes at her across the counter the whole time, is a considerable waste of her time. Not that she's not enjoying their company, she actually has even grown fond of the other woman over the past weeks; Unlike her actual roommate, she is neat, quiet, polite, and if she actually decides to partake in a discussion she is a surprisingly pleasant person to talk to; Even Ryu likes her. No small feat, considering the fact Masaru, after years, is still occasionally subject to his wrath.

 

“I swear, if you make her sleep on the couch again--” Yumiko hisses while Taina has excused herself to the bathroom.

 

“I don't know what you mean, I offered to share. She doesn't want to.” Grace defends sheepishly.

 

“You know exactly what I'm talking about.” her roommate accuses. “You are practically leading her on.”

 

“What? No! It's not like that.” the smaller woman claims. Yumiko is pretty sure she actually means it, and roles her eyes. Before she can say anything else Taina returns.

 

“I'm sorry, I'm not feeling very well.” the Japanese suddenly states. Grace glares at her; She doesn't care.

“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm leaving then.” Taina replies amicably, prompting Grace to kick Yumiko's shin around the side of the counter.

 

The other woman suppresses a shit-eating grin, Grace can tell. She effectively dares the Korean to ask Taina to stay. As expected she chickens out.

 

“I'm terribly sorry. See you tomorrow?” she asks instead. Taina responds with a half-smile and nods.

Before she leaves, she takes the time to sort their glasses into the dishwasher, while Yumiko reproachfully looks at Grace. They share a _very intimate_ hug when she finally leaves.

 

Unsurprisingly an icy cold hangs over the apartment afterwards.

 

* * *

 

“Are you sure that's a good idea little sister? She is not really a nice person to begin with.” Timur tosses in as Grace adjusts her scope next to him.

 

“Yeah, remember that guy, that was in the B lineup of that boy band, he was really unapproachable, and you thought he was probably a nice guy with a tough shell. Turned out he was just an asshole.” Masaru chimes in from the bench behind them.

 

“Seven hundred Yard target. Hold over; Three point eight. Left, point four.” Timur instructs. “Or that goth chick you met in that underground barcade, who would only speak in sarcasm and constantly insulted you in _that totally cute way_.” he adds. Grace takes the shot. A second later they hear the far sound of a metallic hit.

“Correction; Left, point four two.” Timur instructs, looking through his scope again.

“We get it; You are a fierce warrior, smart and handsome, not unlike myself. But your taste in people is shit.” Masaru cautions, as Grace takes another shot.

 

“Bull's eye.” Timur states a second later, as the echo of the shot rings over the range.

 

“I also spend a lot of time with you two.” she justifies. “And don't patronize me, I'm thirty, and I shoot people for a living.” Despite the conviction she would always insist she wasn't any less mature than anyone of them with, Grace goes on to slightly pout at her friend's suggestion. “And she is not that bad. You just don't know her like I do. Also, it's not like that. I'm _not_ having a thing for her.”

 

“Whatever you say.” Masaru mocks her, raising his hands up in a defensive gesture.

 

“Everyone of us has been called a killer by someone at some point. I think you are all hypocrites for always talking about her like that.” Grace defends her _friend_ , and loads another bullet into the chamber. Masaru is mildly concerned she is actually about to turn the rifle on him. Instead she makes an adjustment to her zeroing and fires a shot at the eight hundred Yard target, without Timur calling it beforehand, and another _ding_ rings over the range. Timur hastily takes a look through the spotting scope before announcing another perfect hit. “Nice shot, little sister.” He concedes, as the woman sits up in her spot and turns towards the two men.

 

“I want to invite her to Karaoke night next week.” She puts it like they would have a say in it, but the tone of her voice very much suggests it was merely the announcement of the Brazilian's attendance.

 

“Gracie, you know we usually can't refuse you anything. But I really think this isn't a good idea. She is just, you know, not compatible.” Masaru implores. He obviously thinks his phrasing is diplomatic, but Grace's expression darkens considerably regardless. Unfortunately she and Yumiko are still not exactly through their disagreement about her relationship status, so she is unwilling to invoke her to strengthen her argument. If anything she want's to force the Japanese woman's hand by warming up the rest of their friends, to her new _friend_. The idea of a backfire is completely beyond her.

 

“You wouldn't be too if you wife died in your arms.” Grace blurts out, angrily defending her _friend_. Or herself. She doesn't really know. The last part she found out by implying she already knew while needling Capitão about their friend. She somehow regrets knowing; And she regrets breaking the secret, she isn't even supposed to know, to her friends immediately.

Masaru's expression instantly goes soft, as he starts to struggle for words. Timur remains silent, but looks at Grace empathetically. Her first thought is to ask him why he looks at _her_ like that.

 

“I didn't know she was gay.” Masaru sheepishly states the obvious. If she didn't know him for so long now, she would have called his reply tactless. But she knows he has no filters, yet tries really hard to control himself around his friends. The fact he just lost it clearly shows he wasn't unaffected by what she had revealed. Timur just looks in the distance, he usually tends to block out the subject entirely. Its just part of their professional environment.

After another moment of shocked silence, Masaru finally caves. “And who do you think is going to break the news to Lera?” he asks, already a slightly joking tone in his voice again.

 

“I hoped you could convince Maxim to do it.” she pouts at Timur and bats her eyes as adorably and innocently as she can. Masaru contemplates making a point about her being childlike, but decides against it.

 

 


	5. Holding Out For A Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. This is the last chapter I had pre written. Hence it lied around the longest before I got to editing it, Combined with fact I spend the last week on a business trip it took a bit longer to get it out. I'm not entirely sure its not overedited and a bit too tame. But it still conveys what I had originall intended.

“There is this company, you probably have heard of it. It's called _Amazon_?” Grace comments from the worn out but nonetheless comfy, brown leather armchair in the corner. “They even have these small devices, where you can read all the books you want, without carrying around stacks of dead trees.”

She, as usual, frowns at the fact the other woman doesn't own any form of electronic entertainment; She gets reading and all that; But seriously.

 

Taina briefly looks up from the book she is reading, _Veroni_ _k_ _a decides to die_ \--

After looking it up Grace thinks, despite its positive outlook, it's one of the most depressing stories she has ever heard of, only surpassed by _T_ _he_ _S_ _tranger._ If she didn't know the reason for her usual gloominess she might have even made a comment about her reading habits.

\--and gives the Korean an annoyed look.

 

“I don't recall forcing you to come along.” the Brazilian retorts in an almost harsh voice, and looks down at her book again. The intensity of the reply makes Grace wince. Usually the taller woman would just smile off her snarky remarks, that are ultimately just meant to initialize conversation, because she still can't stand not talking for too long.

 

Grace shifts uncomfortably in her seat, trying to come up with a reply that doesn't seem too desperate, when she's saved by the tall bearded man, clad in all flannel and slim-fit jeans, placing down another round of lattes on the small side table in between them.

 

“Is there something else I can do for you?” the man inquires politely in a deep and friendly voice, prompting both the women to shake their heads in response, before he vanishes again.

For a moment Grace looks around the vicinity. Initially the idea of coffee shop that's also a book store sounded stupid to her. Actually it still does. But evidently all there is to it, is bookshelves. Otherwise there are the same hordes of college kids, brooding over their laptops, typing a maximum of one word a minute, probably dreaming of their 'new and innovative' screenplay becoming the next big Hollywood thing. She has already snooped around all their works--

Open Wi-Fi, _duh_

\--and none of them is realistically going to make it past a mediocre accountant job. One of them had a mildly interesting paper on quantum cryptography in there. His premise was completely wrong obviously, and she hopes he doesn't mind she left a few remarks, but still.

For the longest time Grace just sits there and quietly watches the Brazilian, trying to read her expression, all the small details of the strange softness of her resting face; The gray of her eyes almost seeming to darken and lighten up depending on what she's reading. Grace oftentimes finds herself wondering about the strange contrariety of the Taina she knows, cultured, gentle, albeit withdrawn, even warm, and the one supposedly everyone else claims to know.

 

After another half hour or so, she doesn't really know, of quiet togetherness Grace finally decides to go through with her initial intention to _suggest_ for Taina to come along for Karaoke Night. “So.” she states tentatively into the quiet.

“Yes?” the other woman replies in that warm tone she often talks to Grace in recently, after the Korean doesn't followup on her interjection, and Grace wonders why she even hesitated to begin with.

“I was thinking.” the smaller woman addresses Paulo Coelho's face in the back of the book. “Since you and Yumiko get along so well--”

Grace hopes Taina doesn't take up the cue to ask why they haven't spend any time at their apartment since Yumiko 'got that stomach bug'. “

\--Maybe you want to come along for Karaoke Night?” she tries really hard to not close her eyes and look away, like she's bracing for impact. Something she never does; Whats wrong with her?

 

There is a long moment of silence, as Taina raises her eyebrows. “Don't your friends mind? I get that Yumiko wouldn't have a problem, but what's about Echo and the others?” she cautions after a moment. “I wouldn't want to ruin your get-together.”

Grace wants to point out how Taina just wants to avoid the situation as a whole, but finds nothing but sincerity in her face. She frowns at the fact that Taina is probably right about her friends reaction, and the fact she entertains that negative picture of herself at all.

 

“I already asked them and they don't mind.” Grace replies, rather charitably bending the truth. “Please? For me. It will be fun. I swear.” she implores the other woman again and makes puppy eyes at her.

 

Unsurprisingly Taina just purses her lips, lets out a loud sigh, and caves immediately. “Fine. But I'm not singing.”

 

* * *

 

It is a warm Californian _winter_ evening when they gather at the gate of the base in the middle of nowhere. As usually they have ordered a chauffeur to drive them between the base and civilization.

Even though Taina gave in so easily, Grace still isn't sure if she is going to show. Relieve flashes on her face when she sees the other woman approach the gate in the distance. She gets on her toes and starts to wave enthusiastically. For a short moment Taina looks like she's about to turn around and leave again, so she stops and tries to suppress her excitement.

 

When the Brazilian woman has nearly reached the gate, Grace catches a glance at her outfit. Although her makeup is pretty dark and she wears black nail-polish, she otherwise looks incredibly pretty. To her own bewilderment, Grace once again catches herself open-mouthed. She eventually shakes it off, but still marvels at her _friend's_ looks. Unbeknownst to her Yumiko again has that stupid smirk on her face, watching her reaction from the corner of her eye.

Taina isn't wearing any black or uniform at all. Instead she is dressed completely different from any look Grace has every seen on her, or even known her to own clothes like that. She wears a may green shoulderless blouse over plain white tank top and dark blue skinny jeans. She also wears neither combat boots nor sneakers, but ballerinas, matching the green of her top.

She has her hair braided into a fancy updo around her head. It emphasizes her feminine gracefulness, she skillfully hides most of the time, and that right now makes the tips of Grace's ears burn.

She also wears a leather wristband, a simple silver watch and bracelets of colorful wooden pearls for jewelry. Grace can't help but notice she is also wearing the silver necklace, holding her wedding band, around her neck. Part of her is really happy she feels comfortable enough to do so, but it somehow also makes her sad, and strangely uneasy.

 

As the taller woman gets closer their eyes eventually meet up close and Grace quickly looks away, feeling caught staring again, her face lighting up with a blush. From the corner of her eye she eventually sees Yumiko's face, all smug and self-congratulatory. The worst thing is, she couldn't protest, even though she knows, the Japanese woman's allegation is completely unfounded; She is well aware of her weird bemusement. Maybe she caught a cold.

 

Grace hesitates a bit too long, just blankly looking past Taina, so Yumiko steps in and they share a friendly hug, that Taina doesn't seem too uncomfortable with. Echo, Finka and Glaze just look at the three of them in confusion. Apparently Grace's roommate did indeed keep their secret. Only Kapkan has a strange, knowing expression on his face, but seemingly didn't share whatever it is he thinks he knows with the others.

 

“Hey.” Taina's soft voice breaks the flustered woman from her trance.

 

“Hey, um, you look good.” Grace concedes, and looks down on herself. She suddenly feels underdressed. She's sporting her usual attire, hot pants, tank top and a large olive cargo shirt with rolled up sleeves, and had opted to not braid her hair and instead wore a long messy bob and her usual long bangs. White highlights looking out from under her signature slouchy. This time a dark red one.

All of them look completely different. A weird assortment of different people they are. Maxim looks like a mobster from the twenties or thirties, with gray suit pants and matching vest over a plain white shirt with rolled up sleeves and a black tie, but wears comfortable brown sneakers. It looks almost out of place with his stern face and short military haircut, yet it underscores the fact, that, much like her Brazilian friend, he is really attractive if he wants to be.

Timur on the other hand looks like he's selling drugs and women out of a rundown Russian restaurant, but more fancy. He wears black straight fit pants, white Adidas sneakers and a white singlet under a fashionable track jacket that's probably more expensive than it looks. Grace is ninety percent sure he picked the outfit, including the gold chain around his neck, to annoy Maxim. Sometime she wonders how they haven't shot each other already.

Yumiko of course looks flawless. She wears long and wide leg gray dress pants over flat red woman's sandals, a black sleeveless top, adorned with thin white floral patterns and a sling bag for a purse. Notably the colorful highlights are missing from her hair. She is basically the most Japanese looking person Grace can think of.

Looking at Masaru she is unsure why he always teases her about her presumably less mature fashion sense, as the man wears baggy cargo pants and a hooded jacket sporting the insignia of his police unit. If she strapped a rig and a gun to his leg he would be mission ready.

Not unlike Lera, who she is pretty sure also owns camouflage pajamas. The tall Russian woman wears combat boots, with only the first few rows actually laced up, and Russian camouflage cargo pants, topped off with a dark green plaid shirt over a simple white tee shirt. Unlike the others who are now gathered close to Grace chatting, Lera eyes the Brazilian hostilely with her hands in her pockets. Even after they have convinced her to tolerate Taina's presence for Grace's sake, she is more than opposed to her presence, and apparently bend on showing it.

 

“Where is Alex?” Grace inquires, as she just now becomes aware the Russian woman's usual match is missing from their group.

 

“The old man had to return to Moscow to report on this ones last transgression.” Maxim states, pointing at the man next to him.

 

“What?” the exaggeratedly accented voice of the other Russian replied. “Stop the convoy at all cost.” He apparently recites the order in question.

 

“Without destroying the cargo.” the older man scolds.

 

“Who could know it would blow.” Timur deadpans, a roguish expression on his face. They both know he 'accidentally' destroyed the cargo because he knew where it was supposed to go before it was stolen.

 

The small altercation is a welcome distraction, and Taina and Lera have ceased glaring at each other; Grace casually steps next to her _friend_ and links arms with her before she can draw away.

 

“So glad you decided to come.” she states quietly and maybe a bit too affectionately, and leads her onward. Taina still looks less than thrilled about spending a whole evening in their company.

 

“The driver will get us to the city. The only one missing is Hiro, Yumiko's boyfriend. He stays at a Hotel near the place and will meat us there.” Grace explains as the group finally gets into the minivan. The driver seems to be already familiar with their group, as he only really looks at Taina for a moment and then nods towards her, as if he means to tell her he has her memorized as part of the group now.

 

Taina spends the short drive in uncomfortable silence, while the others chat and joke. Grace is slightly clinching to her side, trying to include her with every other sentence. Not exactly something she is overly keen on.

 

* * *

 

Hiro is a rather attractive Japanese man in his late thirties. Unlike Echo, he is very polite, and despite all the horrible stories Taina assumes they must have told him, he greets her with an honest smile and even casually compliments her appearance. Like his girlfriend he also seems to be really fond of Grace. They exchange a few friendly words and a hug. The bunch of them appears really familiar with each other, in a way that Taina barely remembers herself.

Apparently the small group is well known around the establishment, as the owner, a lean Asian man, greets them personally, even commenting on the addition, and addressing her personally. They sit down in pairs around the large table that was set for them in one of the separate rooms, with Finka and Echo casually third wheeling.

 

“I'll have a caipirinha.” Taina politely replies when asked for her order a moment later.

 

“That's a bit of a cliche, isn't it?” Lera instinctively snaps at her. It's going to be long evening.

 

“Unlike, Japanese, Koreans and Russians getting drunk at a Karaoke bar.” the Brazilian retorts quasi instantly, and Timur almost falls over with his chair from laughter at the impromptu reply and the Russian woman's face, as Lera wrinkles her nose and squints at Taina hostilely.

 

“Didn't know your girlfriend was that nimble-witted.” Maxim whispers, leaning over to Grace.

His assertion causes her face to almost assume a deep crimson color as she sheepishly fidgets with her hair.

 

“She is not my girlfriend. We are just friends!” she quietly denies the _allegation_ in a slightly too high pitched voice.

 

“Grace, is everything alright?” Taina asks worriedly. It only makes things worse.

 

“Hahaha, why, yes? Everything is alright.” Grace replies helplessly, followed by a few muffled Korean curses, while she looks at Maxim, with her eyes pleading for him to not bring up the subject anymore. Taina fortunately only shrugs and smiles politely.

 

* * *

 

After their initial round of drinks is served, they have dinner. The menu doesn't offer much variety and everyone seems to order the same as they usually do. Taina settles for what is advertised as Bibimbap, but looks more like someone simply mixed rice and cabbage, and overcooked the result. In all honesty it's not that bad, it just looks less than appetizing. There is a hint of a smile on Taina's face as Grace's eyes widen at the sight of her smoothly picking the dish apart with chopsticks. She wonders though, if everyone of the other members of Six thinks she literally lives in a cave in the rainforest.

When they are finished and ordered a few more drinks, to Grace's great satisfaction, her friends seam to warm up to the new member of the group, at least as much as she would let them. Even though Yumiko and Hiro are pretty preoccupied with each other already.

Lera is at least mostly polite if not friendly. Although both of her friends don't miss a chance to have a go at each other. In the end they bond over it, and sometime during the evening Taina procures a very nice balisong and shows it off to the Russian woman; Apparently this is the passion they share, and afterward they are almost on friendly terms.

 

Following dinner the Russian trio starts belting dated Russian pop songs. At first Taina looks quite bewildered, but is constantly humored by Grace, who spares no effort to make friend as comfortable as possible. Luckily besides all the short respectful exchanges when ever she tries to include her on a topic, she seems to get along really well with Maxim, who whenever he is not kept on his toes by Timur and Lera's antics, chats Taina up on some professional topic, music, or another harmless subject carefully avoiding her personal life. Grace is really thankful for his _help_ , because instead of shaking the initial strange sensation of Taina's company, she's becoming increasingly flustered whenever the Brazilian turns to her and talks to her in this warm and affectionate voice, that together with her flawless looks and gentle way of regarding her, makes her inside burn. The fact that suite they are sitting was probably meant for at least one person less isn't helping; Even her smell drives Grace crazy; Vanilla, jasmine, rosewood and something she has never smelled before. She doesn't particularly like these fragrances. It's just; She's about to scream.

 

Just as Yumiko is about select a song for herself Grace grabs Taina's hand and uncompromisingly drags her forward and towards the stage. “I won't sing.” The Brazilian tries to protest, but it's futile as always. “I can't sing.” she tries to reason again, as Grace rigorously slams the keys of the computer controlling the system.

“Oh no, someone who can't sing at a Karaoke bar. Shocker.” Grace replies unfazed. She has to do something. Anything. She quickly skims past her usual K-Pop favorites and into 80s Pop, intent on picking something virtually everybody knows at least a little bit. Moments later 'Holding out for a hero' starts playing, as she leads her _FRIEND_ onto the stage. She angrily glares at the table, when Maxim, Yumiko and Hiro cheer a bit to enthusiastically for her liking, but is distracted by the words starting to appear on the screen facing the stage.

She starts to sing her heart out. Somehow she needs to relieve some of the frustrating tension, before her head explodes. At first Taina doesn't sing along. She actually looks like she is about to storm out of the room, again. Awkwardly shifting in place, as Grace forcefully squeezes the mic. She is not even noticing she is singing it slightly gender-bent. Eventually the energy and passion of the head over heels Korean starts to affect the taller woman as well, and she starts to sing along. Not as energetic at first, until she slowly but surely starts to forget the pain she carries with her for a moment and truly starts to enjoy the music, as their surroundings become almost blurry.

When the music is over a few minutes later they are again greeted with cheering and whistling by their friends. For a brief moment Grace fights of the completely uncalled for urge to throw herself at Taina. They are much closer to each other than she can remember, though. Looking at Yumiko's self-satisfied expression she suddenly wants the ground to swallow her up entirely. The singing didn't help at all.

 

During the course of the evening, spend mostly joking, listening to drunk Russian singing, and a lot of infatuated looks on Grace's part, Taina slowly starts to withdraw and quiet down again. At first Grace tries to include her even more, but to her disappointment it has almost the opposite effect. She must look quite sad because of it, since Taina suddenly takes her hands in her own and starts to explain how it isn't about her or her friends. How this kind of socializing almost causes her physical pain and is very exhausting. A sentiment completely beyond the smaller woman's understanding.

Eventually Maxim chimes in and voices his understanding of the Brazilian's feelings, after which Grace nods amicably, albeit still slightly upset. Taina still allows her to huddle up against her without so much as batting an eye. Grace doesn't even notice she does.

 

* * *

 

When the owner finally very politely urges them to finish their drinks and call it an evening, the mood is already swaying towards melancholy, so they gratefully empty their drinks and pay their bills. It's very early in the morning, but they are not in a rush, so they call up their driver to a spot a short walk away. It's not like any of them would have problems defending themselves.

Somewhere during the course of the evening Grace somehow decided Taina is having a conspicuous number of drinks, and, thinking of her past observation, decided to make things less awkward for her by at least keeping pace. Never mind the fact Timur and Lera are having roughly their twelfth round of shots.

Now, at the end of the evening she is a little bit tipsy. At least that's what her incredibly smart brain tells her. She doesn't have much experience drinking though, so she doesn't account for the lack of oxygen in the closed environment of the bar. Unsurprisingly said tipsiness turns into a full blown drunkenness once she's exposed to the fresh our outside, and she quasi stumbles forward, slightly supported by Masaru, who has fallen back behind the group to take care of her. Initially she protests, convinced 'she can walk on her own'.

 

Yumiko and Hiro have said their good bye once they had left the place, and Timur and Lera are walking up front, seemingly engaged in some kind of goose-stepping contest.

 

Taina just strolls along absentmindedly, when Maxim catches up next to her. “You don't know where you will find or lose.” he calmly states, keeping pace with her.

 

“I don't know what you are getting at.” Taina replies pointedly. Maxim only roles his eyes and gives her a frustrated look.

 

You wear that attitude like your warpaint. Always pretending.” He pauses for a short moment. “I don't give a shit. You are good at what you do. And I'd trust you with my life when it comes to that. But don't hurt Grace. She seems all happy-go-lucky, but you must know by now there is no in between for her when it comes to these things.” he cautions. There is no animosity in his voice.

 

“Love is evil--”

 

“Poljubish I kosla” Taina adds in slightly accented Russian, quietly gesturing at her own face.

 

“Just don't be _a goat_.” Maxim adds smiling, impressed she with her Russian and the fact she knew the proverb.

 

“Whatcha talking about?” Grace's slightly slurred voice calls out from behind them.

 

“Taina was just showing off her Russian skills to me.” Maxim replies warmly, moving a step away from the woman so Grace can link arms with her, as she comes up between them.

 

“You speak Russian?” the Korean's voice inquires drunkenly as she clinches to the other woman's arm to keep a straight path. She obviously knows, but her drunken self is honestly amazed by the revelation. Taina only hums in response, still trying to stabilize Grace's walk, as she gets gradually more heavy at her side. For a few minutes Grace quietly beams up the Brazilian's side. Then gets up on her toes, pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek, before practically losing contentiousness, only automatically keeping stumbling forward. Taina quietly ignores the gesture for the most part, having decided to not think too much of it. She somehow manages to steer the smaller woman to the pickup place in on piece. Nonetheless she falls asleep quasi immediately, once Taina has shoved her into the car. Luckily she is able to fish Grace's keys from her pocket during the ride.

 

* * *

 

“If you need something, I'll be right behind that door.” Taina states benignantly as Grace throws her shirt and slouchy onto the chair in front of the desk and without further warning also drops her pants.

 

“Haven't you heard? You are not allowed to sleep on the couch anymore.” Grace announces and almost falls over, but barely catches herself, holding onto the collar of Taina's shirt she had intended tug on seductively. Her other arm is kind of flailing helplessly, so the taller woman has no choice, but to scoop her up around her waist, and pulling her to her feet again. And unintentionally closer to herself. The Korean's eyes are not completely open. She nonetheless gets on her tiptoes, and tries to close the distance between their faces. Taina cocks her head, pulling away from the intended kiss. Grace apparently doesn't get the hint, or doesn't want to, and tries to follow, prompting the other woman to also tilt her head to the side and away from her face and slightly shoving her away with her free hand.

 

“Don't.” the Brazilian challenges, with finality in her voice.

 

“I thought that's what you wanted.” The smaller woman replies almost reproachfully, and pulls away. She is still somewhat handsy and doesn't fully let go of the other woman. She starts fumbling with the button of Taina's jeans, although saying she was clumsy would be an understatement.

 

Taina pulls Grace's hand from under her top and holds it in her own. “That's _not_ what I want.” She establishes after the Korean makes no effort to comply with her objection.

 

“Just say that you don't like me.” the very drunken woman huffs. She tries to make a dramatic gesture, put lacks the strength and coordination to wind herself out of Taina's hold. It's rather pitiful really. A few seconds later tears start to well up in her eyes. “I did it again.” she states portentously through her tears, and struggles to get free again. The Brazilian's expression softens at the sight of the drunken mess in her arms.

It's not like she hasn't thought about it. A lot. And a part of her wants nothing more, but she doesn't want it to become a drunken one-night-stand thing. The smaller woman's strange behavior for most of the sober part of the evening didn't escape her. And she rather nothing happens between them if there is a chance Grace might wake up in the morning either regretting or not remembering it. Drunk and bi-curious isn't what she wants the end of their friendship to look like. She virtually talked to no one about it. But the strange sense of normality she again feels through the comfortable and easy nature of their relationship, and ultimately Grace's open and affectionate character isn't something she would jeopardize on a drunken whim.

 

She lets go of the other woman's waist and empathetically strokes her cheek, then pulls her into a hug. Trying to convey everything is alright. Grace instantly leans into the comforting warmth of her body, but doesn't stop crying. Her drunken mind unable to fully process the situation. After a moment Taina straightens herself out and presses a soft kiss to the smaller woman's forehead. Feeling her grip weaken, Taina gently sets them down on the bed. She tries to lay Grace to rest, but even in her hardly conscious state, she still won't let go of her. A bit exhausted herself and not completely unaffected by the alcohol, simply slips out of her shoes, quickly wiggles herself out of her pants, and since Grace has already gotten rid of most her clothes, just lies down still holding her. When the Brazilian pulls the cover over them, Grace falls asleep quasi instantly.

Odd sleeping arrangements are kind of their thing after all. She smiles at the thought, as the Korean's breathing becomes slow and steady, the soft rhythm of up and down in her arms slowly rocking her to sleep too.

 


	6. What A Feeling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus "chapter"! :3

_[click]_

 

_[dialing sounds]_

 

“Hey, it's me. I'm sorry I haven't called in a while.”

 

…...

 

“Yes, everything is alright.”

 

…

 

“Yes, I was in Rio actually.”

 

…..........

 

“I couldn't really. But I'll return for your birthday.”

 

….....

 

“No, I know, but I want to.”

 

…...........

 

“I actually need to talk to you about something.”

 

…..............................................................

 

“How would you know?”

 

…...........................................................................

 

“Yes, but I thought you might...”

 

…..........................................

 

“I know.”

 

…............................

 

“It just feels like...”

 

…......................................................

 

"Yes, she would have."

 

..........................

 

“You are probably right.”

 

…....................

 

“I know I can. I wouldn't have if I didn't think so.”

 

…..................................................................................

 

“Thank you.”

 

…................

 

“You too. Tell Luis I said hello.”

 

…....

 

“Tchau!”

 

_[click]_

 


	7. Keep My Picture!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter is kind of an interlude between the last one and the next one. I never had thought about the transition and hence struggled a bit with the characterisations and everything in this. Its probably I bit too fluffy. But more words are always good, ammirite?

It's barely dawn, when the small Korean's face starts coming to life. There is a short wrinkle of her nose, followed by mouth assuming all sorts of curvature, and a barely audible groan later she jerks awake.

She is disoriented, still incredibly tired, and if waking after only a few hours of sleep wasn't enough, there is a very unpleasant mixture of tastes in her mouth, that makes her stick out her tongue in disgust. She opens her eyes a slit, to figure out what time it is, and investigate further, but when the room is still almost completely dark she quickly closes them again. Her tiredness almost causes her to fall asleep again. But as she is about to doze off again, she recognizes that pleasant, familiar smell, that for some reason is surrounding her.

A blurry memory of the past evening emerges before her eyes, and for a moment she is about to have a panic attack. She tried to kiss Taina. _O_ _h_ _no._ Her body tenses, as she wants to shoot up in bed. Surprisingly she is unable to really move, prompting her to start shifting around irritated. Only then she becomes aware of the arms around her waist, firmly holding her in place. It takes a short while for her sleepy mind to assemble the pieces, and she opens her eyes confused.

Suddenly she also recognizes the comforting warmth of the other other body, the slow and steady breath, softly gracing her neck, and the calm heartbeat alongside her own. Her mind either blocked them out before, or considered them completely normal.

She should have another panic attack, but instead she is completely calm, only overwhelmed with relieve. The realization somehow soothes her anxiety for the moment, and before long she is rocked back to sleep by the other woman's comforting presence, even snuggling up to her now.

 

* * *

 

“Now you are just showing off.” Yumiko's cheerful voice greets Taina, as she and Hiro enter the apartment in the early afternoon. The Brazilian woman is doing handstand push-ups, while Ryu is sitting on the ground next to her, watching her with all the uninterested indifference of a cat, not deigning to look at either of them. Her hair is hanging to the ground in her usual french braid, and she is wearing one of her tops, she must have fished from their laundry basket, and what, judging by its color, must be one of Grace's running shorts. With a quick motion Taina bends her back and sets her feet down on the ground.

 

“I wanted to go to the gym this morning, but didn't want for Grace to wake up to an empty apartment.” She unnecessarily explains as she's standing upright again.

 

“Uh-huh” Yumiko hums pointedly, and sets down a large paper bag of baked goods on the kitchen counter, while Hiro looks slightly uncomfortable with the direction the exchange is taking. With a quick glance the Japanese woman has already recognized the couch looks exactly the same it has when she left it to get dressed the evening before.

 

“So, did you two have fun?” she inquires suggestively. Taina raises her eyebrows for a moment, looking at her slightly annoyed, then only quietly shakes her head--

Yumiko can't quite discern if she is means to deny the implication, or if it's aimed at the question itself.

\--and strides over to the kitchen, retrieving three clean mugs from the dishwasher.

 

“But you _didn't_ sleep on the couch.” Yumiko points out, and gets gently elbowed by Hiro, as Taina, what can only be described as passive aggressively, sets down the last mug on the counter. There is something in her expression that makes the Japanese woman hesitate to follow up on the matter.

 

“No, I didn't.” the Brazilian woman quasi hisses, even if the tone of her voice is quite measured. That's non of her god damn business. Taina still immediately feels bad about her reaction, and her expression softens noticeably. She knows, being defensive about these things is deeply ingrained in her mind.

“Is everything alright?” Yumiko asks more seriously, now a worried look on her face. Taina ponders how much to reveal for a moment; Still quietly scowling at her across the counter, while the coffee maker starts bubbling in the background. Eventually she again shakes her head, but sort of grunts affirmatively.

 

“I'm sorry, I just assumed; You seemed to _get along_ really well yesterday.” the Japanese woman establishes, making air quotes.

 

“No. It's just; Why is she so afraid of people suddenly not liking her anymore? She is extroverted and happy otherwise.” Taina inquires calmly, any animosity she might have had seemingly gone.

 

Yumiko quietly studies the Brazilian's face for a moment.

 

“Assholes.” She states a moment later. “She is always so affectionate and bend on getting people to like her, especially if those people seem particularly unapproachable.” She pauses and gives the other woman a pointed smirk. “Mostly by showering them with affection. Always trying to be friendly and please them. And there are those who happily exploit that in one way or another. The women usually just stand her up in the most horrid and embarrassing way, and the men; You can figure that one out yourself. All while she still thinks she somehow scared them away, or wasn't nice enough.”

 

Taina lets the information settle for a moment. She had expected something along the lines of that, but doesn't really understand how a person this smart and frankly, this feisty would be this insecure when it comes to that.

 

“So, what did she do?” Yumiko inquires again. As far as she is concerned she held up her part of their implicit bargain.

 

“Nothing. I was just wondering.” Taina replies neutrally and smiles politely. Yumiko wants to exclaim 'Bullshit!' but decides against it. After a long pause, Hiro helpfully initiates mundane smalltalk, while they finish setting the counter for 'breakfast'. When the coffee is done, the mood is already considerably lighter, and Taina has warmed up towards them again.

 

* * *

 

“So, how did you meet?” Hiro politely inquires. His voice is friendly and caring, as he still tries to treat carefully, even though Taina has ensured them it would be okay.

 

“On the job actually.” Taina replies slightly uncomfortably, although she was the one who rather casually opened up to the two of them. Well, to Hiro anyway; His disarming politeness, and sincere friendliness and empathy helping a lot.

 

“She was chasing a robber, and accidentally drove him right into my arms. Then she very rudely asked me out without even having seen my face.” A loving smile flashes of the Brazilian's face, and she noticeably tries to be nonchalant about telling the story, even though she keeps it purposefully short. However the melancholy in her expression is still more than visible.

 

“Love on first sight then.” Hiro observes empathetically, prompting Taina to hum agreeingly. Before she can continue her phone rings. She slightly knits her eyebrows together. HQ.

 

“Hello? Yes I can do that. Be there at once.”

 

After the very brief conversation Taina quickly puts the phone away.

 

“I'm very sorry, to leave you so abruptly, but Ash wants me to come over to HQ for some administrative matter.” she states politely, a slight hint of disappointment in her voice, and looks over the where the small Korean is without a doubt still sound asleep. For a moment Yumiko thinks the Brazilian is about to stay, as she purses her lips and looks almost hesitant to get up at all.

 

“Can you tell Grace? I don't want her to think I wouldn't have waited for her to wake.” the Brazilian requests worriedly.

 

“Of course.” Yumiko replies warmly, although she knows her roommate will probably freak out either way. She still thinks Taina's awkward chivalrousness is quite adorable, especially since Grace is already hopelessly in love with her in her very Grace way.

 

* * *

 

 

When Grace opens her eyes, at first she feels a bit dizzy, and there is a hammering pain behind her eyes, making her painfully aware, she never drank that much before. After a moment of unruly shifting in place, unsuccessfully trying to relieve her headache, she again recognizes the familiar smell and remaining warmth next to her, and instantly misses Taina's presence; At least it wasn't a dream. Although she isn't completely convinced she wouldn't rather have it that way. The memory has a soothing effect, and she rolls over into the other woman's spot, resting her face in the sole source of what is left of Taina's presence, for the moment managing to ignore the pain. But after lying there for a minute, the memory of what she did, or tried to do, starts to push itself o the fore again, and she is overcome by irrational guilt and fear.

Grace is suddenly wide awake, rolls over, and shoots up from her rest, looking around worriedly. It's already bright day, and she is alone in her bed. Not even the only half-open blinds can stop the sun from brightening the room, forcing her to squint.

She spends a second cursing herself, but then, strangely, finds a large glass of water and an effervescent tablet next to it on her nightstand. When she slightly baffled reaches for the glass, she notices there is a note pinned under it. It simply reads 'Don't worry', and there is a small sun drawn next to it. Grace's heart skips a beat, and she stares at the small piece of paper for a short while. There is the strange sensation again, and a soft blush settles on her face, over the very obvious realization.

 

* * *

 

When sun begins to set and Grace is still nowhere to be seen, Yumiko starts to slightly worry, and decides to check on her. She doesn't know the small Korean had sneaked out to the bathroom during the afternoon, while they were occupied with each other. She gently knocks at the door, but receives no answer. Quite worried she calls out Grace's name, but still no answer. Upon entering the room she finds the other woman sitting cross-legged on the ground, in between piles of clothes and other stuff scattered around the room, sprinkled with empty cans of energy drinks and other sodas; It almost looks like Grace had deliberately build a fort. She is wearing large headphones, and is audibly humming along to some K-pop, while docents of lines of code are appearing on the screen of the laptop on her lap. There is another one sitting next to her on the bed, seemingly displaying an episode of some cartoon; A vampire and an entirely pink colored princess are talking to each other. Additionally her tablet lies on the ground in arms reach, currently running what looks like a gambling app; Numbers are running down on the sides as some sort of fighting video game is displayed inside another frame.

Besides the screens the only source of light is what few rays of sunshine the setting sun gets through the merely open blinds; The room is almost completely dark.

Notably Grace is wearing Taina's green blouse for a top. Although it, being a size too large, shoulderless and not completely opaque, doesn't do a very good job at that. Yumiko resists the urge to roll her eyes, and instead makes her presence known by waving her hand between the screen and Grace's eyes.

The smaller woman doesn't noticeably startle, and instead simply looks up at her, all innocent and absentminded, but with a soft smile on her face, before pulling the headphones from her ears.

 

“Are you alright?” Yumiko inquires slightly irritated, and knits her eyebrows together, bracing a hand to her hip challengingly.

 

“Oh, hey. Yes. I'm alright.” Grace replies curtly.

 

“Why haven't you come out earlier? We brought breakfast.” The Japanese asks slightly reproachfully. The woman to her feet just blinks at her a few times, then shrugs, like she doesn't have an answer to that, and vaguely gestures at the screen, before starting to type again.

 

Yumiko hums frustrated. “We are going to out for dinner. Do you want to come? I'm driving.” The older woman offers amicably, and there is a short pause.

Grace just shakes her head. “I think I'll stay.” Her voice is neutral, and the edges of her mouth perform a few twists and turns, before the soft smile appears on her face again, and she seemingly leaves the conversation behind, once more pulling the headphones over her ears.

 

“Oh, and Taina is very sorry she had to leave. Not that you care apparently.” the Japanese woman taunts, while Grace can still hear her; But she pretends she hasn't, and instead starts humming along to the music again.

 

“Okay then.” Yumiko shrugs, arms crossed in front of her. Grace is an _adult_ after all.

 

Shortly after her friends left, Grace's phone vibrates, and a short text appears on the screen.

 

_Put on a bra if you go out!_

 

* * *

 

When Grace energetically shoots up from her slumber the next morning, it's around the same time as the day before-- The first time --and she is exceptionally well rested. Even though she spend the better part of the evening adjusting the ego of some Russian kid, who thought they'd outsmart her; Child's play.

She folds her legs and sets out to check on her portfolio, makes a few adjustments to some parameters, manually sells all stock of a company who's CEO, she knows for a fact, will 'very soon' be revealed to have made some very rude comments about a certain demographic, checks her mails, reads the upcoming mission assignments she is not supposed to have access to, and finally puts on some music, before opening the door of her bedroom ajar, so Ryu can come in, which he promptly does.

Gently ruffling his fur, Grace takes a sip from the can of energy she just opened, and proceeds to stare at the empty text field with the Korean word for _bookworm_ next to it. After making a few attempts on typing in some nonchalant sounding message, she drops the phone in her lap and huffs out a loud sigh of annoyance, picks it up again and changes the contact info to 'Taina  <3', before dropping the phone once again. At least a little bit pleased with herself she throws Ryu off her lap, and starts getting ready for her morning run.

 

* * *

 

The gym is filled with the sound of fighting sticks hitting each other, accompanied by groans, and the cheering of a small crowd. Irritated by the noises Grace pops her head around the corner of the door. If her memory serves her right, and lets be real, it always does, this is still one of Taina's regular gym times.

A bunch of operators and support personal are surrounding the mat, on which apparently an interesting fight is going down. She creeps up next to Masaru and Timur, who are standing in one of the corners, both looking more then pleased with the show. Finally able to see what's going on she peeks between them.

On the mat her Brazilian friend is trading blows with what looks like one of the American soldiers who are supposed to be part of some exchange program, she read about this morning. Although 'trading blows' is bit of an overstatement. One of Taina's hands is behind her back, as the rookie is aggressively swinging both of his sticks at her. He visually grows more reckless and erratic every time she parries one of his shots, or simply steps aside for him to hit nothing but thin air.

 

“What's going on?” Grace inquires slightly confused.

 

“Ash wanted her and Lera to teach a short class, and apparently he said something that upset her, while she was giving a demonstration or something.” Masaru informs her, a slight grin on his face. Grace can't shake the feeling he left out some integral information.

 

“She overheard him and his friend very disrespectfully 'complimenting your appearance'. Although I'm not sure why that would provoke this kind of reaction.” Monika chimes in from where she is standing next to Masaru, and faintly gestures at Grace. For a second all color drains from Grace's face, before returning in the form of a slight crimson.

“Apparently they have been acquired some profiles of the female operators. And when she confronted them he apparently called her 'a butch'? I'm not familiar with the term.” Elias, who is standing next to his German colleague adds.

 

“And he doesn't know when he's above his head.” Timur laughs, as the Brazilian's opponent receives a light tap to the back of his head and stumbles forward. For a moment Grace looks around the ring, and finds Lera apparently doubling as a bookie. The Korean makes a face at the thought any of her friends would actually place a bet against Taina.

 

“They are betting on how long it will take him to give up.” Masaru states, obviously having followed her gaze. “I have twenty Dollars on K.O.”

 

Suddenly Taina eyes Grace in the crowd and slips up for a second, a slight grimace forming on her face, and she receives a hit to her side, accompanied by a confident snarl from her opponent. She quickly averts her gaze from the Korean woman, and the indifferent, almost amused expression her face has shown until now, twists into a dangerous mixture of confidence and anger. Her opponent comes at her with a swift combination of strikes, she easily avoids. Then things happen so fast, Grace almost misses it. It begins with a strike to his right hand that instantly makes him drop his stick, followed by a swing that hits him right at the center of his chest and sends him staggering backwards. He retaliates with a feral swing in Taina's general direction, which she deflects downwards, before hitting his other hand, disarming him completely. She ducks slightly, striking his food, and he starts tumbling forward, but changes direction when she, _very_ restrained, as everyone who knows her can discern, strikes his head from beneath, knocking him out.

When the fight is finally over Taina immediately drops the sticks, and without even so much as looking at her opponent, makes a beeline towards Grace.

 

“Hey, how are you?” her warm voice inquires, gracing the side of the Korean's arm with hand, turning the slight blush that still lingers on her face into deep crimson again. Monika, hearing the tone in her voice, looks like she has seen a ghost, but she and Elias are quickly ushered away by Masaru, while Timur steps onto the mat, and alongside Lera proclaims the show to be over; Practically diverting all attention from the Brazilian.

 

“Hey.” Grace stammers back. She had a very well laid out plan for how she wanted to go about this conversation, which apparently, isn't available right now. It makes her realize something; She has never been in this situation. Well sure, she often ambushes people with friendliness, but all her life, she has never been the one having to actually make a romantic effort. This is harder than she thought.

 

“So.” She begins. “I wanted to apologize for what I did. And said. I didn't mean to...” Her voice is feeble, and she barely manages to not look away. Taina's expression turns a bit sad, but she makes no effort to break contact or create distance between them. For a moment Grace thinks she should have simply acted like nothing happened.

 

“It's alright. Don't worry about it.” The taller woman implores, a pained tone in her voice.

 

“No. Yes. I don't.” Grace replies, more confidently. Taina isn't entirely sure where she is going with this.

 

“As you know, I have to go _home_ for about a month.” the smaller woman establishes nonchalantly. Taina winces at the realization. Somehow she had almost forgotten about this fact.

 

“And I thought you should come visit me some time.” Grace adds a little bit quieter.

 

The Brazilian opens her mouth to answer, but is quickly interrupted.

 

“You practically only leave on official business, and like once a year for _vacation_.” The Korean reasons, unbeknownst to her, unnecessarily. Okay, twice; Wedding anniversary and the anniversary of Mariana's death. Grace isn't even sure she'd count these as 'vacations'.

 

“I'd like to.” Taina simply replies, although she isn't entirely sure she wants to. But the thought of not seeing Grace for a month makes her feel even worse.

 

The smaller woman frowns at the fact her expression doesn't match her answer at all. Her face looks almost distant, not to mention the subtle sadness.

 

“You don't need to if you don't want to.” Grace states empathetically, disregarding the fact the mere thought makes her stomach twist. “I would understand.”

 

“It's not that...” Taina replies, and a moment of awkward silence passes.

 

“I'm obviously inviting you.” the smaller woman adds. She doesn't think money would be a problem, but she wants to rule out all possibilities.

 

“Lets talk about it later.” Taina pleads. She hesitates for a moment, searching Grace's expression; Grace does the same. A few seconds later both women become aware hands have been connected since they have been standing there, and in unison withdraw them. Taina looks like someone has stabbed her hand, and Grace simply looks down at her feet.

 

“Are you still going to the coffee shop later?” Grace breaks the silence, nonetheless fumbling with one of her braids.

 

Taina nods.

 

“Do you mind if I tag along?

 


	8. Can't Let Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey there... so I'm sorry for getting you involved in my elaborate character studies, in advance... this is longer as I planed, and not the chapter it should have been. But I kind of felt the last one still not being the transition I wanted. Hence it took me so long to figure this one out.   
> I'm hoping to speed things up from here on out again. And will hopefully quickly stitch together this and the original next part of the story.
> 
> Have a nice weekend everyone!
> 
> PS: also this used to involve a brief action scene. But it would have been forced to be too short for me to be satisfied with it. So I cut it. But worry not. There will be eventually :3

Grace sits in her spot and eyes the Brazilian woman hesitantly. It's true. She has this need for people to like her, and their affection. And she also kind of needs the physical contact. Not in a drug addict kind of way. She can spend months in the forest, living under a rock, if she need to. _Professionally_. But its nice if people let her, and is kind of a big deal as far as her emotional well-being is concerned. So the fact there is this invisible barrier between her, and the most important person in her life right now, kind of wears her down.

 

It's not like her friends don't like her too. Maxim and Timur love her. And Yumiko let her sleep in her bed with her when she didn't feel very well. Masaru isn't particularly nice to anyone, because he has no filter in any regard. But he has always been straightforward with her. Nonetheless they only kind of put up with her. Which she supposes is all than can be asked of another human being you call you friend. And they never show any animosity or anything, but half of the time there is pity behind their looks. 'Oh look what very Grace thing Grace has done again, that I didn't agree with, but I didn't say anything about until after the fact, so I can roll my eyes and tell Grace how Grace that was of her.'

It's not like she doesn't understand their point of view. She even agrees with it for the most part. But that has never been how Taina looks at her. Taina always looks at _her_ , like she sees her for who she is, like, it's a good thing she is exactly that person, even if she protests, criticizes or disagrees, she has never been dismissive. Maybe she pitied her a little, when she drunkenly tried to throw herself at her, but that's beside the point; Even Mike would have pitied her in that situation, albeit up from his very high horse. Her point is: Taina _never_ pitied her for being Grace.

So she kind of feels neglected right now, although it may or may not be completely self inflicted, because the observation, the other woman hasn't in any shape or form changed her behavior towards her, is something she is distinctively aware of.

Hence for once Grace is the one quietly brooding, and observing her friends demeanor closely, while the other woman absentmindedly reads her new book; _Roadside Picnic_

 

After they have settled in on what she would consider their usual spot, for a few minutes the Korean seriously contemplates how to go about the matter at hand, but then gets kind of distracted, or maybe kind of distracts herself, and wanders off towards the nearest bookshelf, and starts scouring the books for something to distract her with. After all Taina has told her it would be okay if they used the store in a more library kind of way. Although she isn't entirely sure why they would allow that. A question that, unbeknownst to her, is about to be answered.

 

“Hey, Tainjetshka!” A familiar voice echos through the rows of shelves. Grace spins around in her spot, but tries to kind of low-key about her presence, and only watches through an opening in the shelf's assortment of books. The man that usual waited their table is approaching the Brazilian woman with a completely new kind of familiarity.

 

“Drop it Tristan, you are from Saint Petersburg, Florida, not Saint Petersburg, Russia.” Taina retorts, dripping with sarcasm, but it's not that hostile sarcasm she uses to deter people. There is an irritating fondness in it, that makes the Korean's eyes almost double in size.

Tristan opens his mouth to reply to that, but the woman beat him to it. “And yes, I know your grandmother was Russian. Doesn't make you any more so. Your father is Irish for god's sake.” Grace's _friend_ adds dryly.

The man gives her an affronted look, and sighs in a sort of fake exasperation. Grace only looks bewildered. She guesses she has heard Taina banter with Lera, but she wasn't aware she even knew anyone else outside of Six, let alone entertain close-ish relationships with them.

For a moment the two of them engage in a staring contest before a big grin appears in Tristan's face. Then Tristan breaks into a hearty laugh for a few seconds.

 

“The usual?” he asks. Taina glances vaguely into the direction she must suspect Grace to be, but can't make her out peeking through the bookshelf, then nods agreeingly.

 

“I'm sorry I don't have time to chat, today. A lot going on right now.” he establishes friendly, and Taina purses her lips and nods. Then he basically saunters away again.

When he passes the row of shelves Grace is totally not hiding behind, she forcefully grabs his arm, just enough to make him aware she could hurt him if she wanted, and pulls him into the aisle with her. While the man looks at her bewildered, she contemplates how to go about it, but quickly settles for jealous girlfriend. After a moment he obviously recognizes her, and something strange passes his face. Grace decides to ignore it for the time being.

 

“So, _Tristan_.” she says in a sort of dangerous politeness. It's something she has learned from Maxim. He uses this tone every time he asks for _clarification_ , after someone said something remotely homophobic.

“How do you happen to know my _friend_ over there.” She puts an absurdly heavy emphasize on the 'friend'.

The man glances around and back at the Brazilian through the bookshelf, and back at Grace.

“I, _uh_ , she is a very loyal customer. Has come her for years.” he replies, and color starts to drain from his hand, as the smaller woman still grips into his arm.

 

“I already know that, silly.” No answer to the implied follow up.

 

“What are you waiting for?” Grace follows up, and violently rattles his arm.

 

“I haven't decide if I'd rather lose my arm or upset her.” he replies dryly, but there is a sense of truth in it. Grace let's go of his arm, and mock dusts it off with her hand.

 

“Oh, don't worry, we are very well acquainted.” she states, as per usual, rather charitably bending the truth. Although, well, depends on the topic really.

 

“Oh, _uhm_ , I figured as much when she brought you here.” he concedes, once again looking over his shoulder, worriedly.

 

“What do you mean?” the Korean asks irritated, as he hesitates again, and adds threateningly flexing her knuckles for good measure.

 

“ _Uhm_ , after, _uhm_ , her wife died--” he pauses, scanning Grace's face for evidence she knew, and looks rather relieved when there was no sign of surprise. “--and she moved here, I tried to set her up with plenty of women. But she only warned me to never tell anyone she was coming here, and declined all offers in that regard. I think the only person, well besides you and well...” he made a pause and a sad expression shows on his face, “She has brought here is that one eyed guy. I kind of never dared to ask. Must have been her father or something. It's kind of why I didn't want to reveal to you we knew each other in the first place.”

 

The small woman went on to pout sadly for the better part of a minute. Nevertheless the notion she was apparently the only person Taina ever brought along to her sacred haven or what this was, inspired a certain sense of pride and confidence.

 

“But, if you knew Mariana, how did you meet then?” she inquired, realizing the Brazilian must have been coming here before joining Six.

 

“Well, so this started a few years ago. The store was kind of struggling. Financially. So my boyfriend at the time--” he averts his eyes for a second and looks quite uncomfortable. “--kind of spun this story, that this was some sort of secret, inside, gay hotspot. Which to be fair worked out pretty well. Anyways so, apparently, Mariana saw the ad online when she was planing their honeymoon. A cafe, that's also a book store seemed kind of ideal, because, you must know by now, Taina devours books like you the speculaas we serve with our coffee.” Grace's face suddenly looks affronted. It's not her fault her metabolism is pretty fast. “So when they were in LA, they swung by pretty much every day. Business was still pretty slow then, so we became friends. That's really all there is to that story.” he finishes his account. After processing the story and its circumstances for a moment Grace feels like she is about to cry again, but then quickly collects herself.

 

“So, I have to ask.” Tristan states nonchalantly, breaking the awkward silence. “Are you? You know.”

 

Grace again purses her lips, honestly thinking about the question, but then sadly shakes her head.

 

“Don't worry.” he implores empathetically. “You are the first one she ever brought here; 'Has to count for something; And you have no idea what kind of people I tried to set her up with. One was a Japanese fashion model...” He digresses, but stops as soon as he sees the expression on Grace's face.

 

“I'm Grace by the way.” She stretches out her hand towards him enthusiastically. She likes this guy. “I'm sorry for hurting you. I'm just...”

 

“Nice to meet you. Grace.” he stops her, but shakes her hand. “But I think I have to go work again. You know. Customers and all that. You want your usual too?” he adds friendly and Grace nods again.

 

After she returns to her spot opposite of Taina, a visual novel in hand, and proceeds with quietly looking at her, now a little less misery filled, Tristan arrives with two larger than usual cups of coffee. Notably the saucer in front of Grace holds no less than five cookies. She quickly looks up to glare at her new friend, but he's already gone.

 

* * *

 

When the small group steps out of the plane on the small airfield of the base, after the next mission, Taina barely manages to let go of her bag, before the complete weight of the small Korean woman anchors around her neck, and almost pulls her backwards, strangling her in the process. For a second she looks around, but besides Jordan and Monika non of the others seems to take too much notice of the event. Maxim only smiles at her when their eyes meet, and Alex is just humming some second wold war era marching tune, while carrying his gun. After making sure there are no unwelcome observers, the Brazilian gently scoops Grace up, and sets her down in front of her.

 

“You didn't need to come out here.” Taina establishes warmly, but the soft smile on her face betrays her statement.

 

“I heard what happened. I'm so glad you guys are okay.” the Korean establishes, looking over to her Russian friends, and switches her grip from the other woman's neck to her midriff. But when she squeezes and pulls herself closer, Taina noticeably winces and lets out an involuntary groan, prompting Grace to recoil and eye her worriedly.

 

“What's wrong?” the smaller woman inquires.

 

“Nothing.” the Brazilian replies, trying to suppress the slight grimace of pain on her face.

 

“You either tell me or I'm going to squeeze you again!” Grace threatens, and lets go of her. Taina sighs.

 

“One of the enemies ambushed me with a two-by-four.” the taller woman concedes, rubbing the spot in her side. “It's nothing really.”

 

“Calm down Diana...” Grace says under her breath. “Judging from you reaction it's at least a broken rip. That's not nothing.” She adds, almost angrily, and Taina's expression softens in that strange way she can't quite place, again.

There is a short moment of silence, when they just exchange these, looks, when suddenly a Humvee stops next to them, and Ash jumps out.

 

“Caveira. I'm sorry to bother you again. But there has been a mix-up, and I wanted to personally apologize.” the redhead addresses the Brazilian politely. “Due to a clerical error your room has already been cleared ahead of time. The paperwork didn't pass my desk, and the support stuff just went through with it.” she adds with an awkward expression on her face. Taina only raises an eyebrow.

 

“I'm here to give you the access card to the storage, and apologize in the name of HQ. The clerk in question has been penalized, and obviously we have cleared another bed for you. But you might need to share to room for a bit.” Ash explains apologetically. “But you can also stay at the infirmary, if you need more time to recover.”

 

Grace, who is way too concerned with the last part, overhears, or more, ignores the first part, especially the 'ahead of time' and quickly jumps in.

 

“You don't have somewhere to stay?” the smaller woman inquires, still a worried expression on her face.

 

“As I said...” The redhead begins again.

 

“You can stay with us!” Grace interrupts without thinking about it. Taina doesn't look convinced, but, maybe it's the injury, somehow instantly accepts.

 

“Only if it's not too much to ask.”

 

“Of course! Also, it would only be for one evening, after that you can practically have my room for as long as I'm _home_. Don't worry about Yumiko.” the Korean replies nonchalantly, although it's obvious neither of them is entirely comfortable with the idea.

 

Ash questioningly knits her eyebrows, but then only shrugs, hands Taina the keycard, and leaves again. “Call admin if you need something else.”

 

* * *

 

Since Taina's belongings have already been cleared from her room due to the clerical error, she decides to not make too much of a fuzz about it, even though saying she was annoyed, not only be the error itself, but the fact some support staffer actually went through her things, would be an understatement. So she only swings by the storage facility and grabs the most import things and a few pieces of spare clothes, since she, after thinking about it, found she got most of the things she need on a daily basis sitting in front of the two Asian's bathroom mirror already.

 

As she stands in front of the apartment door, she takes a moment to draw a few deep breaths, trying to get more accustomed to the pain her bruised rips entail. Not that she has a particular problem with the pain, it's manageable if anything, but completely hiding it, is a whole other thing. Especially as Grace will probably lurk around her, specifically worrying about it.

 

A mere second after she knocks at the door, it practically flies open, and she is greeted by the happy smile of the small Korean, who seems all to enthusiastic about the whole arrangement, while Taina herself is still unsure how she feels about it. Her uneasy feeling about the whole situation still lurking in the back of her mind.

 

Since they have just returned from the mission, and as usually there wasn't much time, to rest, Taina is lying on Grace's bed, with a book in her hands. Yet, she is merely skimming across the pages more or less uninterestedly. The smaller woman has excused herself rather flimsily to go on a run, but in all honesty the Brazilian is thankful to get some rest, and avoid the whole mess of a situation for the time being. Although she kind of wonders way Grace is so uneasy about it, since she went to extreme lengths to reassure her, everything is alright. Even though it isn't. On her part anyway. And she tries really hard to not let the smaller woman feel it.

 

When she, after a while of more or less only ruminating with the book in her hand, is concentratedly reading again, Grace's head pops around the door of the room. Apparently she has already showered, and is dressed in one of her usual, very casual outfits. Taina only glances up from her reading, and offers a small smile, before continuing. From the corner of her eye, she can see a strange expression on the other woman's face. It's a blend of concern and gloominess.

 

“Hey.” Grace greets her after a long moment of lurking around the entrance of the room. “Do you have a moment?”

 

“Of course. What is it?” the Brazilian replies in her reserved for only Grace voice, and puts the book down on her chest.

 

Suddenly the Korean looks at least a little bit hesitant; Again and again looking towards the windows rather than the other woman.

 

“I want to ask you something. I don't know if it's okay. I think it is. But you don't have to answer.” She relativizes vividly.

 

“Please.” Taina replies, sits up, and pads the spot on the bed next to her. In all honesty she is surprised by her own action. It's somehow her natural reaction to the other woman. And a painful reminder of the past. The Korean, still hesitant, sits down next to her, folding one leg under herself and facing the Brazilian. She audibly swallows, and there is another pause.

 

“Why don't you talk to me?” She asks probably more meekly then she has intended. “Sure, we talk. Well, mostly I talk, you listen.” A soft smile passes both their faces. “But, why don't you _talk_ to me? You patently talk to Yumiko and Hiro. And to Maxim. And to the guy at the Coffee shop I'm not supposed to know you know.” she makes another pause, and for a second sadly purses her lips. “But not me. And I am the one who is supposedly your friend.” The last part is strangely accusatory, and the word 'friend' rolls over her tongue very heavily.

 

“It's not the same.” Taina replies curtly. The taller woman has a distressed expression on her face now.

 

“How so?” Grace follows up sceptically, and looks directly into her eyes.

 

“They are not my _friends_. Not like you are. I don't need to keep these things from them. Because they can't be between them and me.” she deftly but truthfully talks around the matter.

 

“But I want to know. It's like this huge part of you is missing. And sometimes I think I need to be there for you, but can't. Because you wouldn't let me.” the smaller woman adds seriously. “And I'm tired of puzzling things together on my own.”

 

“Okay.” Taina replies. Still Grace looks like she wishes she could take back the last two minutes.

 

There is an almost too long moment of silence, as the Brazilian looks at the other woman deep in thought, while Grace fights the urge to apologize over and over.

 

“What do you want to know?” Taina finally says, as the Korean looks like her head is about to explode. Mostly out of joy. Although now that the other woman has offered her what she wanted, she somehow fails to actually come up with a question.

 

“Tell me about _her_. Tell me about your life.” Grace quickly inquires nevertheless, and straightens herself out, once again fighting the urge to close her eyes to brace for impact. After a few seconds of respite, Taina reaches for the gym bag she has brought from storage, and retrieves a black notebook from it. The book is adorned with all sorts of colorful stickers, and a golden ribbon is attached to its cover. She then faintly gestures for Grace to sit closer next to her, which she very awkwardly does.

When Taina opens the book, there seems to be a bundle of letters folded and stacked inside the cover, which she carefully removes, only for a second pausing and giving them some thought. Although briefly Grace spies a dried and presses rose in one of the pages, and also a large heart drawn on another. The smaller woman tries really hard to indifferent about it, but can't deny a certain romantic sadness.

After setting aside the letters, Taina, still wordlessly, skips the first few pages, until she arrives at a slightly faded photograph, that's bond to one of the pages with transparent tape. It show's Taina in an outfit that more or less closely resembles the ensemble she wore to Karaoke night, and Mariana, wearing a colorful sundress. The picture looks like it has been taken by one of the photographers, who go around large festivities or clubs, retroactively offering their services. Noticeably neither of them looks very happy; They rather look like both of them want leave as soon as possible. In different directions.

 

“This was taken on our first date.” Taina iterates. “It was terribly awkward. And plain horrible.” She states, one of those melancholic smiles on her face. “I hadn't slept in two days, and had clashed with my mother shortly before I left for the date.”

 

And so Taina _talks_. Recounting their second date, which came about by sheer coincidence. The countless times they went out to dance. The day she was shot and Mariana annoyed the nurses until they simply let her stay at the hospital. Mariana's wedding proposal, which to Grace sounds like something out of a romcom. The wedding photo she has already seen. In context of the many photos, small notes and poems Taina just showed her, she thinks it's incredibly sweet. They moved to the new apartment, which looks incredible in the photo. Technically speaking it was still a studio apartment, but big, and nice, and, as Taina tells Grace, in a really nice part of the city. There also is an exposé from a kitchen studio filed next to it. Then there was the day Taina's mother died, and she wasn't sad at all; But Mariana insisted they attend the funeral, even though she couldn't bring herself to attend her gay daughters wedding, and Taina actually cried in the end. A few sweet and cute memories later, there is suddenly only a white page, and Taina falls silent, like it suddenly and abruptly ended. Which it actually did; Grace knows that. But having it signified in this way, almost makes her cry for her friend again.

 

“I'm _so_ sorry. I shouldn't have asked you to do this.” the smaller woman states sadly, and when she looks up to Taina, there are actually tear stains on her face. She has no clue how she managed to tell her all that without her noticing. And Grace feels really bad for causing her that amount of grief in the first place. Without even thinking about it, the Korean wraps her arms around the Brazilian's body, and squeezes her in a tight hug, completely forgetting about her injury. “I'm so sorry. I should have known.” she repeats a few times. “Please don't hate me.”

 

“I couldn't hate you.” Taina replies quietly, still with a lump in her throat, but places at least one of her arms around the Korean's body too. They stay for a few moments, subsequently sliding down onto the surface of the bed, and the Brazilian tells more stories. They aren't something special. Not like the proposal, or any first date. They are slow, and full of small and unnecessary details. The last one is the story of how she one day returned from the bakery down the street, Mariana had still been sound asleep when she left, and when she returned, she was just sitting their, looking at her sadly, and telling her she missed her and to never just leave again without saying goodbye. Because she would rather be tired, then not sharing that one last moment.

Grace never hears the end of it. She falls asleep somewhere around the middle, now resting her head on the other woman's collarbone, only so slightly drooling on her.

 

After just lying there for a few minutes, Taina picks her book up with her free hand, and simply starts reading again; Grace still resting in her arm; The weight of the small woman causing her a slight amount of pain in her side, she easily ignores.

 

* * *

 

When Grace awakens again around one in the morning, she is carefully tugged into her blanket, and her fake glasses are resting dutifully on her nightstand. She remembers the evening, prompting her to quickly feels around with her hand, but she's alone. Her eyes flutter open and a frown starts to form on her face, accompanied by an annoyed pout.

With fierce determination, she swings her legs out of bed, throwing of the cover in the process, and almost tromps into the living room, where the Brazilian is sound asleep on the couch. For a second the Korean considers her intention again, but ultimately decides to go along with it, and starts carefully sneaking closer. Obviously it's no use.

 

“Hey.” the Brazilian's low voice greets her. Her eyes still closed, and otherwise completely unfazed by her presence.

 

For a second Grace is surprised by the sound, but simply proceeds with approaching the other woman.

 

“I'll make this easy on you.” the smaller woman states roguishly, crossing her arms in front of her body. “You either come to bed, or I'm going to squeeze myself onto the couch _with you_.” She tries not to sound too annoyed. After all Taina technically did nothing wrong, and maybe there is a part, deep inside her, that understands why she does it. The pushing her away, and creating space where ever she can. Which Grace supposes, isn't particularly easy with her. And maybe she is being stubborn or stupid again, but she is about to do this.

 

Hearing these words, Taina's eyes slowly open, now looking at Grace questioningly.

 

“Grace.” her quiet voice pleads, and a vulnerable expression forms on the other woman's face, but the Korean has already made up her mind.

 

“No. We _are_ friends. And _maybe_ there are things we need talk about.” there is a long pause, in which they just look at each other, and this should have been her cue, but the moment passes, and Grace instead proceeds as planed. “But you are not sleeping on that old and uncomfortable couch, when there is perfectly good double sized bed in the other room.” she establishes sternly, channeling her inner Yumiko. “You have a broken rip, and I'm not in the mood to discuss this right now.” She knows she isn't as comfortable with the implication as she insinuates.

 

“And you. Don't look at me like that. We both know you are just waiting for a chance to occupy the couch yourself.” Grace scolds the cat looking up at her from on top of Taina's legs. Then she stretches out her hand towards the Brazilian, demanding for her to get up, which she eventually does. Nonetheless she has an uncomfortable expression on her face, that Grace pointedly ignores.

When they settle on the bed, the Korean makes a deliberate effort to not overwhelm the other woman with physical contact, although it's probably for nothing once she isn't completely conscious anymore, and presses herself into the wall on the far side of the bed as much as she can for emphasis, while Taina reluctantly occupies the outer spot. Notwithstanding the slight tension, they both fall asleep very quickly without speaking another word, which is particularly hard on Grace this time. But she got her will.

 

 


	9. Here Comes The Rain Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I might have gone a bit over board with this. Also, people from the country I'm talking about, please don't hate me for enganging in all the tropes. It's more of an homage than anything!
> 
> Also thats the last "angst" chapter for a bit. From now on it will be "fluff" *That takes place in the present. (!)

The three of them sit together on the raw metal bench on the wall of the small holding cell, leaning against each other. Although it’s already early in the morning, Maxim is mostly awake; The Russian is sitting with his head back against the plain white brick wall, looking ahead through half open eyes, his mouth curled into a self-satisfied smile, regardless of the already clearly visible contusion under his eye. The Brazilian woman is sleeping next to him, her head resting on his shoulder, the usual worried expression on her face from under the hoodie she borrowed from Yumiko earlier. Buck is curled into the corner of the wall next to them, arms crossed in front of him, only one eye half open from under his beanie; Not asleep, not really awake.

 

“I must say;” a for this time of day already too cheerful American voice greets them, as the door leading to the confinement area swings open. “Of all the members of Six, the three of you are among the ones I would have actually taken bets against one day having to bust out of jail.” Jordan quips, a smug, but cheerful expression on his face. “ _He_ is Canadian for fuck’s sake.” he adds. The operator in question only so slightly rolls his eye at him beating the already pretty dead horse.

 

Maxim quietly straightens out his posture and raises an eyebrow at the American, nonetheless still not showing any sign of distress, or remorse for that matter, a sentiment apparently mirrored by the other man in the cell, as Taina starts shifting at his side, quiet groans foretelling her awakening.

 

“The sheriff and I went over the paperwork already, and I explained to your new _friends_ the concept of diplomatic immunity, and that there are multiple witnesses attesting to them practically forcing you to defend yourselves.” He chuckles, knowing very well the lot of them got off easy. Maxim raises his hand to his face, his fingers playing along the edges of the bruise along his cheekbone.

 

“Hank seemed rather thankful you refrained from trashing the place. Also, you might want to know, there won't be any permanent damages. Although I'm pretty sure the one guy will walk funny for at least a week.” Jordan adds, grinning like the idiot he is. “Pretty courageous bunch they are, jumping a drunk woman wrapped in bandages.”

 

“I can assure you, she didn’t need our help, I actually intervened to protect _them_.” The Russian states flatly. The Canadian only nods in agreement, then quietly returns the other man’s grin.

 

“Oh, _I_ already figured. ‘Didn’t want to make that point to the sheriff though.” he winks at them. “Will she be able to get back on her own?” Jason inquires pointing at the woman next to the Russian on the bench, who just now looks between them drowsily.

 

“Don't worry.” Maxim replies warmly. “I'll see that she gets to bed safely.”

 

Jordan clearly has a witty remark on his lips, but for once chooses to bite his tongue. “Alright.” he replies instead, and motions for the deputy next to him to open the door.

 

* * *

 

**18 hours earlier**

 

Very predictably, there isn’t remotely any physical space between the two woman in the morning. Because, as expected Grace has crept onto the other woman in her sleep and now has the Brazilian’s torso in a half-hug, her hand even on the skin of Taina’s stomach, her fingers under the brim of her now considerably slid up shirt, close to the edge of the bandages. Grace’s legs are hooked over the taller woman’s intimately, and her face is resting comfortably against her back, entangled in the long, earthy brown hair.

Grace technically wakes first, instinctively smiling into the surface of the other body, as she embraces the cozy warmth, before once again becoming fully aware of the situation of their bodies and it’s implications. At first she wants to quickly roll away, but then recognizes the fact Taina’s arm is firmly pining hers in place in front of her body, so there is no way she can get away without waking her too. _Good job Grace_. A few minutes go by with Grace pondering pulling away or playing it off once the other woman wakes up. Despite her best efforts, Taina actually wakes up only a short while later, signified by the fact she actually lets go of the smaller woman’s arm.

Now that she officially has been caught red-handed, Grace thinks she can practically hear the other woman brood, and expects her to pull away any second. But no such thing happens, and they instead, more or less unanimously spend another ten minutes just lying there; Which the Korean naturally spends working out a set of excuses and arguments, because, what else is she going to do?

 

“Grace?” Taina's quiet voice asks. The sun already pours enough daylight through the blinds to completely light the room, bathing them in tones of warm orange and hints of the vibrant blue of the morning sky.

 

“Mmmh?” The Korean hums in response, and hastily shifts her hold to release the Brazilian’s body from her grip and tug her shirt back into place, expecting for her to break contact and shift away any second.

 

“It’s okay.” Taina interrupts her quietly, and catches the smaller woman’s hand in hers again, calmly placing them both in the same spot as before, in the process making it impossible for her to break contact at all. After the considerable amount of time they already spend together she is obviously aware, despite the tension over the nature of their relationship, the smaller woman has no ulterior motives when it comes to these things. She simply likes to cuddle, and it’s not like hasn’t already made a habit of squeezing herself into what ever space there might be next to her, when they are at the coffee shop. Grace, of course, expects the worst, and can practically feel the lump form in her throat.

 

“I'm going to miss you.” the taller woman announces a moment later in her soft voice, and the Korean’s heart suddenly goes from its nervous Allegro to full stop. There a many things she has expected to happen. This isn’t one of them. There is a long pause, in which Grace struggles to compose herself in light of the ‘confession’. When about a minute went by without her so much as acknowledging what Taina’s said, the Brazilian, slightly hindered by her injury, shifts and rolls over in the smaller woman’s grasp, now facing her, studying her expression with a questioning look on her face.

The smaller woman still hasn’t come up with a coherent reply. The fact Taina’s face is now only centimeters away from hers, looking right at her, doesn’t really help. But then there is this moment of complete and utter perfection; Neither of them saying something; Neither of them really needing to. It only feels right, and wasn’t it for the fact the other woman must expect her to say something, anything, she would simply close her eyes again, and revel in the comfortable safety of their togetherness. There is still the slightest amount of hesitation on her mind, but this is the moment. If it’s not, none will be.

 

 _Here goes nothing._ “I’m completely sober.” She establishes in barely audible whisper and draws a last shallow breath, before closing what little distance is still between them, and gently connecting their lips. In this moment it feels completely right; Even though it’s only briefly, and their noses softly bump into each other, but for a moment it feels like Taina is kissing her back, her fingers gently pressing into Grace’s side, as her grip on her waist tightens, just a little bit. It’s somehow everything she thought it would be, and her heart starts racing, as her world slowly fills with the soft smell of the other woman’s shampoo. The smaller woman pulls herself closer, their bodies now barely not touching, with her eyes still closed, afraid of what she might find, if she looked.

But then her curiosity gets the better of her, and she slowly opens them, their lips still pressed together. When she does, in her mind, there is this mixture of pain and sadness in Taina’s eyes. As she hastily breaks the kiss, not entirely sure what she is supposed to do now, they somehow hold each other’s gaze for the briefest moment, before the Brazilian averts her eyes, her fingers ghosting over the small portion of Grace’s exposed skin, as she draws away. Just as the Korean is about to stammer a series of apologies, over what moments ago seemed to be the most perfect thing that happened to her in a long time, the other woman beats her to it.

 

“I’m sorry.” Taina utters entirely too calm. Although her voice is strained and sad, she obviously tries to be graceful about it. “I shouldn’t have put you in this situation.” She adds, a bit more sadly than before. She is unsure what consolation she could offer. She should tell Grace of this kind of physical contact was a luxury she wouldn’t usually allow herself, and simply relented That, despite what _she_ might think, she actually likes having her around. That the kiss was something she has been longing for almost since before the karaoke night. That she actually likes her.

 

_And that she deserved better._

 

Grace only stares at her in disbelief, sitting up and folding her legs under her, as the silence between them starts to fill the room, the taste of Taina’s lips not even a recent memory yet.

 

“You don’t have to go.” the Korean offers meekly. ‘I liked that situation and I don’t want you to go.’ is what she wanted to say; But she is entirely to stunned by the sudden shift in mood.

 

“I’m going to take a shower.” the taller woman establishes matter-of-factly, quickly picking up the folded stack of clothes she already has already picked out for today, ignoring her quiet protest. It reminds Grace distantly of the way she put her off on that morning in Rio so many weeks ago. Back then she actually had wanted to fight back. This time the sharp sting that is currently piercing though her heart is almost too much for her to say anything at all.

 

“Okay.” she replies, unsuccessfully trying to feint nonchalance.

 

When the Brazilian finally leaves the room, Grace sits motionless on the bed for what feels like an eternity. Her sadness and hurt mixing with the strange sensation of the kisses memory, that she is completely sure she won’t forget anytime soon.

After what has been about two minutes in the real world, Yumiko’s head slowly comes into view around the door frame. Her expression is mostly empathetic, but she still has a questioning look on her face.

 

“What did you do?” she slowly mouths at he roommate, who almost stares straight through her. Grace only gives her a sincerely helpless look.

 

“That bad?” The Japanese follows up, quickly striding over to the edge of the bed, quietly enclosing her in a hug, but receives no answer beyond a vague, noncommital, if not sad, sigh escaping the other woman’s mouth.

 

“I hate to tell you that right now, but we have to leave in about an hour. Traffic is going to be really bad.” Yumiko states calmly, still not letting go of her friend, who by now is returning the hug.

She stays with her for another minute, until she can feel the younger woman’s grip weaken, before getting up from the bed again.

 

“Take your time.” she states warmly. “I’m not quite done preparing breakfast.”

 

* * *

 

The rest of the remaining morning goes as well as to be expected. After Taina returns, showered and clothed, on her part equally trying to hold up some sense of normality, and failing for that matter, Grace quickly vanishes into the bathroom. Yumiko usually tries to do anything but getting involved in their antics, but something about the way the Korean, contrary to her friendly and carefree nature, quietly sat their, reluctantly consuming a small bowl of cereal, not even touching the coffee, makes her feel distinctively sorry for her. Strangely, or not, the tallest woman, with about the same, almost pitiable expression on her face, takes her place at the counter, in turn silently cutting a roll in half, while scowling into her coffee mug.

 

“You alright?” Yumiko inquires carefully, her voice level. As expected she doesn’t receive an answer.

 

“Doesn’t have to be today. But I’m there if you need to talk. You might disagree, but we are friends too.” The Japanese states into the quiet with almost fierce determination.

 

Her two friends spend the rest of the time after Grace has showered as well carefully tiptoeing around each other. It’s not that almost laughable, teenagers figuring out their relationship awkwardness, but something entirely different, that very noticeably seems to hang over them, as Yumiko quietly eyes them over the brim of her mug.

 

* * *

 

“Are you coming?” Yumiko's slightly incredulous voice addresses the Brazilian from close behind her. Taina is sitting on the couch and reading something, and apparently has no intention to actually accompany them to the airport; Looking more or less clueless about what to even reply to that question, as Grace hauls her large duffel bag through the living room, pretending to not care.

 

“No. Not gonna happen.” The Japanese woman establishes, calmly, but with a certain commanding sternness in her voice. She supposes they both need time to come to terms with whatever happened between them. But she is not letting either of them do something stupid because of it. Not on her watch. The last thing she is having, is Grace sadly pouting her way through LAX, as Taina, while equally affected, tries to keep a stiff upper lip on principle, so for the love of god no one so much as suspect she actually cares about anything. Even though all of them know there is at least one thing she cares very much about.

 

The ride to the airport is mostly quiet. After quite some discussion, which, albeit awkward, in form and tone would have made the most cliché Canadian proud, the couple– Yes they are a couple. –has elected to not share the backseat, and instead ‘let’ Grace ride shotgun. The Korean is glued to her phone the whole ride, vividly texting. Yumiko tries to glance over at the screen, but can only see Hangul scrolling by. The silence they radiate, after a while, makes even her uncomfortable, prompting her to turn on the radio after a few miles. When she takes a look at the Brazilian riding in the backseat, she has her eyes fixed outside, absentmindedly staring into the distance.

 

* * *

 

Despite Grace’s pretty ridiculous insistence they should just let her hop out in the loading area, they spend another quarter of an hour finding a parking spot, before leisurely making their way over to the departure section, since, thanks to careful planing, they are not in a hurry. Even though both the other women seem to differ on that assessment; At times almost jogging towards the terminal.

After check-in they still have plenty of time left, more so considering their technical status as ‘diplomats’, courtesy of the U.N., and the fact that Grace, for some reason she is in no mood to ask about, is allowed to preboard. So they are still in no particular hurry.

They spend most of the remaining time talking. Well, Yumiko is talking to both of them. Separately. Both only meaninglessly chiming in on the other's conversation, like they are distant acquaintances.

When they eventually approach the security check point, the heavy silence of this morning falls over them again. After watching them with a raised eyebrow for about a minute, Yumiko nonchalantly encloses the small Korean in a friendly hug.

 

“Make me proud.” She chuckles, almost picking her up from the ground.

 

“It’s only a performance test.” Grace rolls her eyes, but quietly, and almost happy again, chuckles at her friend’s choice of words.

 

“I know. And I have no doubt you will pass. But don’t take it lightly. You know they want you out.” the Japanese woman cautions, although only half serious.

 

“I promise.” the other woman states, a serious tone in her voice, and squeezes the Japanese woman one last time.

 

After they break contact Yumiko pointedly takes a couple of steps back, leaving Grace and Taina alone, in close proximity to each other. A minute goes by with them practically staring past each other in random directions, before the short woman opens her mouth, only a barely audible gasp escaping it, then closes it again, and another minutes goes by.

 

“Look.” Taina begins, only so slightly turning towards the other woman. There are thousand things she could say; She wants to say, but can’t. Grace still suddenly looks up at her expectantly. There is another long pause, in which both of them intensively eye the other’s feet.

 

“It’s only two weeks.” Taina concedes quietly and offers a weak smile in Grace’s general direction. The smaller woman at first doesn’t really comprehend what she is getting at, but then it slowly dawns on her, and despite the strange tension between them, her face quickly lights up, and she nonetheless gets teary-eyed.

 

“So you are still coming to visit?” She asks meekly, peering up at the Brazilian, who’s expression immediately softens and considerably lightens up too.

 

“Why wouldn’t I?” Taina practically whispers. To Yumiko’s relief, both of them are slowly inching forward towards each other.

 

For another moment Grace looks like she is seriously contemplating answering the question, even though it for all intents and purposes has been rhetorical, but then quickly averts her eyes again.

 

“Is it okay, if I...” she begins, as usual fidgeting with her hair.

 

“Grace.” The other woman says, in that warm and affectionate voice, that makes Grace’s feel all warm inside, and without hesitation wraps her arms around her, only one of the Brazilian’s hand strictly resting on her back, while the other almost scoops her up around her lower back. The Korean is tightly pressing her against herself, her head resting on the taller woman’s collarbone with familiarity. After the better part of about five minutes, Taina slowly lets go of her, and when there is some space between them, presses a soft kiss to Grace’s forehead, as she is about to look at her again, prompting her to blush vigorously.

 

“I think I have to go now.” She states, still holding onto each other from a short distance. “See you around?”

 

Taina only hums in response. Both of them are aware they haven’t talked about _it_. But both of them seem to be okay with defaulting to the status quo for the time being instead of parting on bad terms.

Nevertheless Grace quietly gets on her tiptoes and in return presses a chaste kiss to the Brazilian’s cheek, while holding onto her hands with her own, before completely letting go of her. To her great satisfaction a quite noticeable blush settles on her cheeks too. Even if its only so slightly visible.

 

She skips over to the Japanese woman and encloses her in another friendly hug, before quickly making her way towards the priority security check.

 

* * *

 

“I don't think she's interested.” Maxim's polite, nonetheless formidable voice interrupts the trail of words flowing out of the soldier's mouth, as he firmly shoves the other man aside, and sits down on the bar stool next to the scowling woman, placing down his glass on the counter in front of him. The man standing above them stares at him in disbelieve, before building himself up to protest, but Maxim only shrugs and turns his back. He either gets lost, or tries to start trouble. Although the latter would kind of defeat the purpose of pushing him aside, and he’s not really in the mood for a bar brawl, he'd be okay either way. The soldier looks around, apparently scanning the surrounding area for his friends and considering his odds, which, even must figure, aren’t all too good, then departs towards a group of female support staffers on a table in the corner of the bar, muttering unpleasentries.

 

“I didn't need your help.” Taina hisses, not taking her eyes of the glass in front of her.

 

“I was protecting _him_.” the tall Russian replies dryly, and gestures for the barkeeper to bring another round of whatever she is having. “Didn't know you were coming here.” he adds, and takes a large sip from the beer he brought over. The woman next to him downs the rest of her drink, as the barkeeper sets down two glasses of whiskey in front of them. Maxim glances over to her, and recognizes the necklace and ring resting next to her hand on the counter, rather than around her neck. He frowns at the fact she took it off and for a moment deliberates how to further go about the conversation, then very subtly nonverbally inquires with the man behind the counter about how many drinks she had. The rather sturdy, older man briefly holds up four fingers, before minding his own business again. The tall Russian winces at the fact he just added another glass to his friend’s misery.

 

“There is a first for everything.” the other operator states flatly, before grabbing the full glass. “Thanks.” Her voice is husky and a lot more heavily accented than it usually is, and she, at least a little bit, noticeably slurs her English, suggesting she had most of her drinks during the course of the last hour if not less.

 

“You look. Upset.” Maxim establishes empathetically. He doesn’t really expect for her to outright answer the implicit question. For a moment she looks like she is about to stand up and simply leave, but then only sets down the already half empty glass. Nonetheless the moment is very tense, and for a second he even considers backing off of her.

 

“I’m the one dying.” Taina says prosaically. Maxim doesn’t understand what she is getting at, at first.

 

“I’m the one dying. That doesn’t mean you need to, too.” She amends, now sadly pursing her lips. The Russian man now slowly nods understandingly. “I’m paraphrasing of course.” she interjects irritatingly, before going on.

 

“And I promised her, even though I knew it was a lie.” Taina establishes, probably showing the most emotions to anyone in years, and once more quickly empties her glass. “I can’t do it. And Ii’s just not fair… You know… to...” she stops.

 

“Hmm.” Maxim hums in acknowledgment. “I don’t know what you are feeling. And hopefully I never will.” He begins softly. “It’s not for me to judge what your wife would have wanted you to do, and maybe my words are worthless to you, but you already know what that would be.” He makes a meaningful pause, letting his words unfold their weight. “All I already know about you is, that you are not going to forget about her. Or replace her. But that doesn’t have to mean you should never be happy again.” Hell fully turns towards her. “You said it yourself; You promised.” he urges, carefully avoiding even so much as mentioning his ‘little sister’, and wordlessly encloses the woman in a heartfelt hug, she surprisingly accepts without resistance.

 

“But she was the one.” Taina pleads, quietly sobbing into his shoulder.

 

“And she always will be.” he quietly replies.

 

“So, that fucking asshole is good enough, but I’m not.” the drunken voice of the uninvited guest, who somehow found his way back to them, this time a bunch of his friends in tow, suddenly snarls from behind. Unbeknownst to Maxim one of them is the soldier the woman humiliated the other week, who apparently made some local friends since then. The barkeeper shoots all of them warning glare, they completely ignore. The Russian reluctantly lets go of the woman to turn towards their guests.

 

“Is there something I can help you with?” He inquires very politely, pointedly positioning himself between Taina and them.

 

“You can get lost for once.” the apparent instigator snaps back, and lightly shoves Maxim backwards. The Russian exhales audibly. A clear warning, that’s completely beyond their comprehension.

 

“Yeah! What’s is it with her anyways? I though she’s into chicks.” one of them pipes up, from a save distance behind his friend.

 

“You got a problem with that?” Maxim asks calmly. None of them is able to discern the way his body slowly starts to build tension.

 

“Fucking waste.” the man in the front states. Nothing but disgust on his face. “Why ‘you asking? You a faggot too?” his voice is slightly slurred and aggressive. He’s obviously out for trouble.

 

“Come again.” Maxim ever so politely challenges.

 

“Maybe they are both banging the Asian chick.” the guy in the back interjects again.

 

Suddenly the atmosphere shifts in the predictable direction on their part. The ringleader, after only about a minute picking up on the fact, that he is about to get hit, turns away from the Russian, before throwing a telegraphed sucker punch at him.

 

The free punch, if one wants to call it that, albeit hitting its mark, completely misses its intended effect, and Maxim only looks at the assailant stoically.

 

“You done?” the tall Russian asks, as the other men look at him in disbelief, but before he can retaliate at all, Taina brushes past him and practically pounces at the guy who made the last remark, almost sending him flying with a left cross, that by the looks of it knocks him out. The woman immediately winces at the pain in her side, that not even the alcohol can drown out, and slightly slumps.

The other three look at the both of them flabbergasted, before one of their faces crashes into the surface of the bar counter, after being levered off his feet by a swift grapple, as he cut in front of his buddy, followed by a challenging gesture on Maxim’s behalf, who lets go of the man’s body, prompting him to quickly fall to the ground unconsciously.

One off the remaining two seemingly thinks he would be better off fighting the admittedly considerably drunk woman, and goes directly at her, and she indeed barely manages to avoid his jab targeted directly at her face, he follows up with body shot, she almost doesn’t catch and stumbles backwards; Still in pain. Maxim manages to grab the other guys arm and hurls him across the room, where he stumbles to the ground for the moment.

The next guy, the one who started it all, doesn’t look confident anymore, but nonetheless throws a punch at the Russian’s face. His posture reveals he knows enough about what he’s doing to misjudge his chances. This time Maxim opts to block a few punches and a clumsy kick, before retaliating with a quick right hook, that forces the other man’s body into a spin and sends him crashing into the surface of the counter too.

He doesn’t see the other guy coming at him again from behind, about to raise a bar stool over his head to swing it at the Russian. But as the man is about to attack, he gets distracted by someone tapping his shoulder.

 

“Excuse me.” a strangely accented voice greets him very politely. Puzzled by the absurdity of the situation, he sets down the stool, and instead eyes the bearded man behind him incredulously. He wears a woolen beanie, and a lumberjack shirt, that must have seen better days, over a white tee sporting a washed _Canadiens_ team logo. “I couldn’t help but overhear you and your friends talking earlier.” he establishes still very politely, and gestures at the pile of his knocked out friends. “And I have to say, no wonder none of the women bothered to talk to you.” the bearded man states provokingly.

 

“How about you keep your opinion to yourself; Who are you anyway? You sound like one of those damn surrender monkeys.” the man snarls drunkenly, misplacing the accent, he probably never heard before. He apparently already forgot about the Russian and the woman, as his face quickly turns self-congratulatory at the insult. He doesn’t get to enjoy the moment, as about two seconds later, the Canadian’s fist hits him square in the face, making him collapse to the ground like a wet blanked.

 

“Four hundred thousand french soldiers died during the battle of France. About the same number were buried in Verdun and at the Somme. Your insult means nothing to me. And I’m Québécois you fucking tool.” He establishes, standing over the picture of misery on the ground and shaking the pain from the unprotected hit off his hand. The quick nature of altercation seemingly diminishes the gang’s will to fight, even thought the ones that are still conscious, spit a number of very colorful slurs into their direction in between their own pained moans, as they, practically crawling, drag their knocked out friends to safety.

 

“Thank you.” Maxim addresses the Canadian operator, before worriedly turning towards Taina, who doesn’t look too good; Intensively holding her side.

 

“No problem mate. Everything alright?” Buck asks calmly, swooping in to support her from the other side. They place her on a chair at one of the adjacent tables, where Maxim runs a quick check on her ribs. Despite her apparent pain, to his great relief they all seem to be in tact. Or at least as much as they were before.

 

“You want me to call the police?” The barkeeper, a former recon marine turned FBI agent, turned barkeeper inquires. The tone of his voice suggests he would be okay either way.

 

“Yes. I don’t want these assholes to turn up at the gate tomorrow, all sober, and lawyered up. Even if they don’t have a case.” The Russian states. Buck nods in agreement.


	10. Mi Casa Es Su Casa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hello there. *inner obi wan intensifies*
> 
> Sorry for the late update again. The heat was kind of killing me these last few weeks and I had really bad case of writers block. I actually knew what I wanted to happen when I posted the last chapter. I just didn't find the words. Also life hasn't been exactly excellent. But that's non of your business (or problem) I supposed. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Two days go by without either of them hearing from the other. Of course Grace thinks it’s for the best that way. Because she isn’t particularly sure the Brazilian would want to talk to her right now. Additionally, she has been running the gauntlet from the second she arrived, and has ever since. With heaps of pointless obstacles being thrown her way, pointedly mixed with all sorts of running commentary of her supposed lack of pretty much everything. Also, the female members of 707th are ‘just glorified bodyguards anyway’ apparently. So there wouldn’t have been much time to think about that anyway. Although she kind of spend any waking second, between tiredly falling onto her bunk and actually falling asleep, musing over their relationship and daydreaming about the kiss. Even though reality was usually catching up to her rather quickly.

On the evening of the third day she is already completely worn out emotionally. Not that this could actually impair her de facto performance, but it still weights heavy on her mind. After contemplating actually calling _home_ via the encrypted VoIP app she wrote some time ago, for that specific purpose, she eventually decides against it, and quickly tugs the device under her pillow, before rolling over into her preferred sleeping position.

Just as she is about to doze off her phone starts buzzing. For a second she grumbles to herself, cursing Ji-Hun for calling her at this ungodly hour. Especially since he knows very well she won’t be getting that much sleep the next few weeks. Also they have seen each other just the other day. As the annoying sound doesn’t stop, she huffs out a loud breath and reaches under the pillow to retrieve the phone, already preparing a flurry of insults to throw at him. The more surprised she is, when she doesn’t find her best friends stupid face on the display, but the stylized skull wearing a black beret, smiling back at her. She stares at the display dumbfounded for a moment, but then quickly scrambles to actually pick up.

 

“I’m sorry. Did I wake you? I didn’t know if you would be still awake.” the Brazilians voice greets her as soon as the connection is established.

 

“No, it’s alright. I was just about to go to bed.” Grace replies half drowsily, and subconsciously fishes for her glasses, even though she doesn’t really need them for anything.

 

The other woman holds Ryu in her grasp in front of her body, sharing the screen with him. The cat looks less than impressed, but still somehow sits more or less quietly, only so often trying to actually wind himself out of her hold.

 

“You haven’t been in touch. I… _We_ just thought maybe you weren’t feeling well or something.” Taina says sightly sheepishly, but offers a friendly smile, as he Korean adjusts the device in front of her face so she would be properly visible too.

 

“Oh. Yeah. It’s been quite the struggle these past few days. I’ve barely managed to squeeze in time for video games.” she jokes, although noticeably exhausted. She also tries to smile, but can’t suppress her slightly sad expression entirely.

 

“I’m sorry to hear that. How are you holding up?” the Brazilian inquires slightly worriedly, a serious look on her face.

 

For a moment Grace actually looks like she hasn’t decided on an answer yet, but then, considering the circumstance, a bright smile forms on her face.

 

“ _Now_. Much better.” She says with a considerable amount of enthusiasm, prompting the other woman to return her smile, with could only described as relieve.

 

They spend a few too short minutes exchanging the events of the past days. Grace recounting all the torment she has been subjected to, and Taina, much to the Korean’s amusement, telling her how Bandit actually dared Jäger to ask her out, and the unsuspecting German actually approached her with all his bravado, not even backing down when she very politely told him to fuck off. According to Maxim she looked like she was about to gut him, prompting the older man to step in. Grace is low-key more than happy Taina spends time with _their_ friends even if she isn’t there to _motivate_ her, but also can’t help, but chuckles the notion of Marius actually trying to chat her up with a bunch of flirtatious remarks.

 

“You never actually told me what your favorite book was.” Grace establishes reluctantly, as their short conversation draws to an end. She doesn’t really know where the question even comes from in this moment.

 

“It’s called _Momo_ by Michael Ende. The author of _The_ _Neverending Story_.” Taina establishes.

 

“Can you tell me about it?” the Korean follows up.

 

“If you want to.”

 

“I’d like that.”

 

“It’s about a young girl, who is really smart and observant. And hence, although she is also illiterate, people come to her for advice. And one day….”

 

Unsurprisingly Grace falls asleep within minutes of Taina telling her about the story, the warm and steady voice of Brazilian softly rocking her to sleep. When there is only quiet sighing coming from the other end of the connection and the device is obviously resting face down on the Korean’s body, Taina still quietly carries on with her summary for another few minutes, only hanging up when she is sure the smaller woman is still sound asleep.

 

* * *

 

During the cause of the next week they spend every free second together. As literally as possible, considering there is the better part of ten thousand kilometers of ocean between them. On a few occasions Grace even manages to call during the day, after Taina ensures her multiple times her sleep schedule is flexible as any of the operators, resulting in them _having dinner_ together. Some times the Korean calls and there isn’t really something to say, so they just spend the time keeping each other company through the sound of their breathing and the occasional turn of a page, while Grace tinkers with some tech. The Brazilian still takes the time to tell her stories every night. A few times the smaller woman hesitates, and ponders not asking her to, the continuous accusation of not being mature at all echoing back in her mind. But in these moments Taina usually beats her to it, and simply starts telling her about another favorite book of hers; There are many.

 

Grace isn’t sure what changed, but there is something different about the way her friend talks to her now. Technically nothing changed, obviously, nonetheless it feels like she is a lot more open now. Her voice is less sad and a lot less hesitant. Although there also is the slight edge of constant warm-heartedness gone from her voice. Grace is entirely unsure whether it’s a good thing or not and it kind of scares her.

 

* * *

 

“No Grace, she hasn’t said _anything_.” Yumiko’s muffled but not really quiet voice sounds through the apartment.

 

…….

 

“I don’t know. She doesn’t exactly report back to me.” the Japanese’s voice grows a little bit impatient.

 

………………..

 

“Why don’t you ask _her_?”

 

……...

 

“Don’t be ridiculous. _Grace_ , as far as I’m concerned she is dating _you_.” The older woman aggressively pinches the bridge of her nose, trying her hardest to keep her voice down.

 

“Your girlfriend.” Yumiko announces dryly and throws the device onto the bed next to Taina after crossing the living room in silence. The Brazilian looks up at her put doesn’t protest, making the older woman halt and eye her questioning for a moment, but then the situation quickly dissolves, and she leaves.

 

“Good Morning!” the small Korean's voice acknowledges the time difference between them through the view of the small display. Taina shifts her position on the bed, to more comfortably rest her phone in the foldout stand on her drawn up legs.

 

“How are you holding up?” the Brazilian inquires warmly. It’s the last day before she is about to travel to Seoul, but she is nonetheless glad to hear Grace’s voice and see her face, even though they will be together again in just a day.

 

“I passed the psych eval with flying colors. _Duh_. But they somehow found a reason to make me retake the marksmanship test, _again_.” Grace rolls her eyes. “That’s actually why I wanted to talk to you today.” her happy voice suddenly turns sheepish, as she directly cuts to the chase. “You-kind-of-maybe-have-to-stay-at-my-place-alone-for-a-few-days-but-its-okay-I-already-mailed-the-concierge-a-picture-of-you-and-he-will-hand-you-the-keys-when-you-arrive.” She eventually breaths out. Taina raises an eyebrow, almost prompting the other woman to start pleading for her to not call of the visit.

 

“Guess I will be sightseeing alone for a few days then.” Taina replies nonchalantly and smiles affirmingly, making Grace’s face drop into pure relieve. There is an awkward pause in which both of them more or less look past the edges of their respective screens.

 

“I miss you.” Grace finally establishes sadly. She visibly tries to play it off, but has a hard time smiling right now, even though she at least gets to see the Brazilian’s face, as her mood noticeably shifts.

 

“I miss you too.” the brunette replies affectionately, refraining from unhelpfully pointing out they have been talking every day the past week. “Only a few more days. And by this time tomorrow we will already be a lot less far apart.” She adds warmly, trying to reassure the smaller woman.

 

Another minute goes by with them just sitting there quietly.

 

“Hey Grace.” the taller woman breaks the silence.

 

“Yes?” Grace looks up from what ever she has been occupying her mind with in the meantime.

“I’m sorry for the other day.” Taina establishes rather cryptically. Her voice is sheepish by any standard, extraordinary so hers.

 

The Korean hums questioning, trying to figure out what she’s talking about. Nothing really happened between them since she left.

 

“It very much liked the kiss.” the Brazilian adds hesitantly and visibly looks past the screen and above the phone, technically avoiding even virtual eye contact. Grace looks like her head is about to explode, but before she can say anything there is a lot of commotion in the background. Her head snaps around and she barks something in Korean, visibly angry.

 

“I, _Uh_ , have to go.” She manages awkwardly and looks like she wants to add something, but then the commotion starts again and she quickly closes the connection, before the other woman can say anything else herself.

 

* * *

 

After a lengthy discussion with the admittedly very patient Korean flight attendant, Taina accepts, although still reluctantly, the fact the ticket Grace has left for her seats her right on top of first class. And not like, advanced business class, but first first class; Three square meters of personal space and all. The flight as much as the drive to Grace’s place goes by as quickly as can be. When she steps off the plane on the airport, there is a very formally dressed Korean man carrying a sign with the Caveira version of Grace’s gremlin logo on it waiting at the airport. The Brazilian eyes the man suspiciously, but since he is clearly there for her, follows him to the car uncomplainingly. The car is a completely white Hyundai limousine. Everything about it looks pointedly unsuspicious. Unsuspicious enough for her to know, it’s anything but that. The frame is reinforced, the wheelbase is considerably wider than it should be, and she is pretty sure all the windows could reasonably withstand at least a few bursts of 7.62 Soviet. She supposes discussing this with the driver wouldn’t lead anywhere, so she seats herself in the back of the car as instructed, and spends the drive to the city admiring the different kinds of districts, buildings and infrastructure scrolling by.

 

The place she eventually arrives at is a very tall, very modern looking glass building, in what she assumes by the presence of parks and other recreational areas must be one of the better parts of the city, prompting her to frown at the implied wealth. What did she get herself into?

The concierge recognizes her practically instantly, very courteously hands her a set of keys and directs her towards the elevators, in what can only be described as near perfect English, reassuring her she could reach him at any time of day if she needed just anything.

 

After reaching one of the uppermost floors of the building, by now at least a little bit curious, inserts the key into the lock. The door instantly leads into a very large and bright room, containing a very large living area and the kitchen, with a small number of doors leading into different directions. Two sides of the apartment are covered in glass, with one side being mostly comprised of a very large door, leading out onto an, in her opinion almost obscenely large sundeck. Otherwise the room is bride, but the whole interior design is cold, one might say modern. It actually kind of reminds her of home. Well her old home. After making a round in the living room, she huffs out a loud breath and drops down her duffle bag with a short bang.

Taina wouldn’t consider her self a particular nosy person, but on the other hand there isn’t much else to do, so she quickly decides on investigating the vicinity as unintrusive as possible. On of the doors leads to a very nice bathroom, entirely tiled with some sort of obsidian, that’s basically just one big walk-in shower, but nonetheless also has a bathtub.

A large sliding on the far wall of the living room leads into an almost equally large bedroom, containing not much more than a pretty large and low bed, and two nightstands. An open door leads to what looks like a walk-in wardrobe, prompting her to again frown at the obviously very lavish interior. The bedroom apparently is also connected to the sundeck via a glass sliding door.

The last door leads into a kind of office, although it looks more like a server room, decorated with memorabilia of what Taina assumes must be Japanese cartoon figures; Colorful large robots and the likes. She quickly figures out that two of the walls the room shares with the large room aren’t actually walls, but electrical frosted glass windows, opening the view into the living room on demand. The Brazilian can’t help but again and again wonder about the apparent luxury, and can’t decide whether to assume the Korean is loaded or amassed this kind of wealth by virtue of her _extracurricular activities_.

 

After she finishes her tour, she takes a seat at the kitchen counter, pretty effectively separating the two parts of the room. In front of her lies a stack of delivery service menus, all in English and advertising to be able to take orders in English, and a bundle of cash, with a short note attached to it.

 

_I didn’t know if you would have time to exchange some money. Make yourself at home. There’s Curaçao and limes in the fridge._

 

_Grace_

 

Taina takes a moment to admire the note and smiles, then places the whole thing down as is. She somehow doesn’t feel like eating at all, and instead takes a very long and very relaxing shower. Although it would be pretty hard to take a not very relaxing shower in that particular bathroom.

After all it’s already pretty late, and she wants to avoid jet lag as much as possible, so she quickly settles on her side of the bed. Her side being the side she usually would sleep on in their apartment at base. And according to her observations regarding the mattress’ behavior also the side Grace doesn’t sleep on here. Not that it matters _obviously_.

 

After a short adjustment period, the tall woman is sitting outstretched on the bed in her sleep wear, a large shirt and boy shorts, a new book she brought– _Crazy Rich Asians_ , No the irony is not beyond her –in hand.

She is just about to put her reading material aside and go to sleep when the sound of key being aimlessly put into the entrances lock breaks the silence of the apartment. For a short moment she contemplates the possibility Grace might already return form her assignment, but something about the whole situation irks her; So shuts off the lights, gets of from the bed, and as usual completely silently moves over to the kitchen, where she routinely grabs the chefs knife from the block and folds it behind her forearm. The knife is surprisingly well balanced she notices as she assumes the ideal hiding spot, just behind the bathroom corner, in the complete darkness of the night. Even the lights of the city not doing much to illuminate the room this high up.

After a few seconds the door finally opens, and a figure appear, outlined by the hallways light. It’s a young girl, maybe sixteen years old, caring a large pink backpack. She is obviously Korean, or at least Asian too. She has very short maroon hair and friendly eyes, that somehow distinctively remind Taina of Grace. A large jeans overall is visible under the slightly to big military style winter jacked she is wearing. Nothing about her particularly screams threat. Taina nonetheless stays wary for the moment.

The girl quickly closes the door behind her in a somewhat practiced manner, followed by a loud huff of what sounds like relieve. A moment later she reaches for the light switch, illuminating the room with the rather dim background lights all around. The Brazilian jumps at the chance and quickly closes the distance into arms reach, but still conceals the knife, not wanting to scare the girl more than necessary.

The young woman lets out a loud squeal at the sudden sight of the tall woman in front of her, and instinctively moves towards the door, prompting Taina to quickly grab her by the brim of her jacket. To the Brazilians great surprise the girl almost automatically reaches for her arm and moves to lever her into a defensive hip throw. The sudden development forces her to get rid of the knife by dropping it to the ground next to her, as she counters the admittedly very skilled attempt, especially for a child her age.

“ _Hajima_.” the woman commands in her professional voice, hoping she didn’t miss the translation, but deliberately tries to not sound like she is about to kill her like she usually does. The way she now holds the girl makes her freeze in place and look at her scared than the almost fierce expression she had when she was about to throw her on the ground.

 

“Do you speak English?” Taina inquires calmly, and releases a fair amount of pressure from her hold.

 

“Yes.” the accented voice of the girl replies.

 

“Who are you? What are you doing her?” the woman inquires sternly and lightly shakes her arm.

 

“I live her!” the girl protests. “Let go of me!” she starts to struggle against her grip again.

 

“I highly doubt that. Who are you?” Taina replies unfazed.

 

“I’m Seo-Yeon. My sister owns the place. Let go of me!” she demands again.

 

“If I let go of you. Are you going to try to run again? I assure you, I can outrun you.” the Brazilian establishes, her tone nonetheless a lot lighter than before. The girl shakes her head. “Good.” she lets go of her.

 

“What’s your sisters name and what does she do for a living?” Taina tests her opposite.

 

“Nam Eun-Hye. She is a soldier.” The girl almost hisses, still quite rebellious.

 

“Right answer.” the woman replies as the tension leaves her body. “What are you doing here. And no, you don’t live here. I’m pretty sure that is a detail your sister wouldn’t have left out.” She almost deadpans.

 

The girl suddenly looks defensive. “ _Who_ are you, and what are _you_ doing here?”

 

“I’m Taina. I’m a friend of your sister’s, I just arrived, and I’m waiting for her to come here in a few days.” Taina curtly summarizes, trying to be diplomatic. The girls seams to believe her, because she apparently deliberates her reply for a moment.

 

“I couldn’t have know that.” She replies eventually, but it sounds more like she is speaking to herself, and shakes her long banks out of her field of view with a deliberate swing of her head.

 

“So. I’m listening.” Taina follows up, a questioning look on her face. “And be aware, I’ll know when you are lying.”

 

“I kind of ran away from home.” Seo-Yeon establishes hesitantly. “And Eun-Hye told me I could come to her when ever I needed something. So, here I am.”

 

The Brazilian’s expression immediately softens at the explanation, and she motions for her to follow her to the kitchen, which the girl, for want of other options, does.

They spend the next half hour or so with the girl recounting the reasons and circumstances of her endeavor, and is seemingly surprised the woman is actually listening to her, only turning away to retrieve the kettle and pour them a mug of tea. Apparently she and Grace are only half sisters, sharing the same father, Seo-Yeon’s mother being his former secretary. Nonetheless she seams to be a lot more fond of Grace and her mother than her own mother, who she assures Taina, wouldn’t even notice she was gone. Apparently their father is currently embarked on a business trip.

 

“And that’s supposed to be your plan? Crash at your sister’s empty apartment, and see how it goes?” the Brazilian woman inquires seriously, but without any kind of judgment.

 

“Kind of...” The girl replies sheepishly, staring into her mug. The woman falls silent for a second, contemplating the situation. Unbeknownst to the girl, she is more than sympathetic to her cause.

 

“Did you bring your school uniform?” She asks, nodding towards the large backpack still sitting across the room.

 

“Yes.” the girl replies, a questioning look on her face.

 

“Good. The way I see it, you can’t go anywhere else. Right? And I’m not going to make you go home. Because I know what it’s like. And I really don’t want that for anybody.” Taina establishes in a very serious tone, but her expression is empathetic and probably a lot softer than she intents.

 

“So?” the still looked puzzled at best. She is entirely unsure why the strange woman hasn’t simply called the police and send her home yet.

 

“You are staying here at minimum until your sister comes back, then we will see. You will go to school like normal and come straight back here after. But otherwise you can do what you want. As long as you tell me where you are going.” the woman iterates the apparent rules. “And you can have the bed.” she adds with a small smile.

 

The girl still looks puzzled at her, processing what just has been said.

 

“Thank you.” She eventually replies more thankful than anything, accepting the terms without objections. Seo-Yeon isn’t really sure what exactly about that strange tall woman makes her trust her so much. But somehow she knows she can. There is something in her eyes.

 

“Add your number to my phone.” Taina gently places the device in front of the girl.

 

After a few more minutes of mostly small talk and a bit of reasoning and reassuring, they settle in for the night. Taina taking her place on the pretty large and exceptional comfortable couch in the middle of the living room, taking half the bedding with her, while the girl settles in the bedroom, after only a few minutes already managing the spread an alarming amount of clothes across the room.

 

The next morning Taina tries to call Grace to inform her about the development, but somehow can’t reach her. Maybe she is busy with the test.

 


	11. The Birds And The Bees

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a long one. There are actually a couple of things I wanted to do with this. I tried a few things with the exposition, but turns out Grace actually telling the story is the most natural and personal way to handle that. Hope you won't be bored out of your mind >_>
> 
> Also... rating pump. Go figure.

“Hello. Can you do me a favor?”

 

……………….

 

“Because Yumiko is a lot more responsible and has a lot less criminal energy than you.”

 

……..

 

“Can you check if the SMPA has a missing person report for _Nam Seo-Yeon_?”

 

…………………………

 

“No. Everything is alright. She is here with me.”

 

…..

 

“So you know her?”

 

……………………………..

 

“Not yet. Probably the day after tomorrow. I tried to call her. But her phone is dead.”

 

…………………

 

“Yeah. I figured as much.”

 

…………..

 

“Okay. Thank you. Can you place a silent alert for me if one comes up?”

 

……..

 

“Yes, I owe you one.”

 

………..

 

“No. That will be all.”

 

….

 

“Bye.”

 

_[Click]_

 

“ _Idiota_.” The Brazilian curses her other Japanese ‘friend’ under her breath and sets down the phone onto the kitchen counter, where she is preparing breakfast. After spending the last day mostly asleep or at least resting, she hadn’t any real problem getting up early, and has, despite her obvious impairment in that department, figured out the sound system– Patience is a virtue –so the low sound of the Latin dance music playlist she has prepared with Yumiko’s help is filling the room.

For some reason she suddenly pauses, and spends the next minute staring into the unwelcoming, gray sky of this early morning, musing over the past, and all the unsaid things between her and Grace. After a moment the temperature in the room changes ever so slightly, and when she instinctively turns aroundl, she is met with the heartbreakingly sad expression of the girl standing behind her. Very obviously, despite all her big talk, she did actually hope her mother would care she was gone. Taina knows her expression all too well; If there ever was doubt the cheeky short girl was Grace’s sister, it is extinguished immediately. Without hesitation the woman crosses the short distance to where Seo-Yeon is standing, and wraps her arms around her protectively.

 

“Don’t even think that.” Taina says, preempting the girl's very thoughts. “I know you for about nine hours, seven of which I spend sleeping; And even I know there is nothing about you that’s not worth caring about. And I also know your sister, and I know there is no way in the world she doesn’t care about you. So what ever it is about your mother. It is _not_ you.” she establish in a commanding but nonetheless empathetic voice, tightly pinning the young woman to her body.

 

The girl spends about minute quietly sobbing into the Brazilian’s shoulder, before as quickly composing herself again. “What’s for breakfast?” she asks with a small smile, trying to feign nonchalance.

 

“I didn’t actually know what you liked, so I ordered a few things and made an omelet. I hope you like it.” the woman offers with a reassuring smile.

 

“I… how… where did you get all that?” the girl gestures at the small assortment of mostly breakfast appropriate vegetarian dishes. It’s obvious she is as much as the woman aware, the usual contents of her sister’s fridge consist solely of energy drinks and the occasional chocolate bar.

 

“Oh. I asked the concierge. Turns out there is a convenient store that delivers around the clock, just around the block. I needed him to translate and give a few pointers regarding the menu though.” Taina explains while setting down a plate in front of Seo-Yeon.

 

“You made all of this?” the girl asks, slightly incredulously.

 

“For the most part. Although the only thing I made from scratch is the omelet.” the woman offers. A moment goes by in silence, as the girl stuffs an objectively too large chunk of egg into her mouth, followed by pretty content munching.

 

“Oh my god. This is amazing.” she says almost choking on the last bite, prompting Taina to suppress a self-satisfied smile.

 

* * *

 

The odd pair of them spends the next two days mostly like this. The Brazilian caring for the girl’s basic need for food and comfort, while Seo-Yeon in accordance to their arrangement is on her best behavior, cleaning dishes if she’s asked to, and keeping her stuff out of the living room. Mostly. Her friends and colleagues would most likely wonder why she of all people would bother with caring for a girl she hardly even knows, even if she is her friend’s sister. It’s something none of them, except for Maxim and Grace understand about her. It’s not other human beings she avoids and to some degree even despises. It’s _people_.

On the second day waiting for Grace to arrive, they spend the afternoon after the girl’s return from school exploring the district. It’s a pretty warm day for early spring, and the sun is out, so they eventually end up on a bench in the park the apartment building is overlooking, the girl rather satisfied holding an ice cream cone in her hand.

 

“What do you mean, you ‘don’t own a TV’?” the girls frowns at the revelation. “But you have a computer, right? You watch Netflix or something?” she follows up almost pityingly.

 

“No.” the woman announces and smiles quite pleased with herself about getting this reaction out of her friend’s sister too.

 

“How do you survive?” the girl inquires dramatically and turns back towards her ice cream.

“Books, Yoga and your sister’s antics.” Taina replies like a shot, prompting the girl to almost drop the dessert over the loud snort escaping her.

 

 _Also, I like to poke people with sharp objects until they tell me what I_ _need_ _to know._

 

“So, you are pretty good friends, _huh_?” Seo-Yeon asks after composing herself again, but there is no underlying allegation.

 

“Yes.” the woman replies curtly.

 

“That’s good. I mean, everybody needs friends right?” the younger woman replies meaningfully.

 

“I suppose so.” Taina replies, not knowing what exactly she’s getting at. The fact she doesn’t take up on her cue, makes Seo-Yeon frown for a moment.

 

“Because.” She begins, but then pauses for a moment, before going on. “You seem lonely.”

 

The woman’s eyes widen slightly at the statement, and she shoots the girl a questioning look, but doesn’t reply right away.

 

“I mean, you are obviously very comfortable being alone. And you don’t like people. I can tell from the way you almost murdered that store clerk for asking if we needed help. But you secretly hate being lonesome, right?” she asks, looking to the woman for confirmation of her assessment.

 

“And what makes you think that?” Taina asks instead, intrigued by Seo-Yeon’s statement and curious for her reasoning. To be fair, that store clerk had it coming, when he all too comfortably placed his hand on the girls lower back.

 

“Our… _Eun-Hye’s_ mom...” she pauses again. “You don’t seem unhappy, so it’s probably nothing, but yesterday when you thought I was asleep, you have been looking at your own reflection in the window in _that_ way. I don’t know. I sometimes just get these things about people.” she establishes hesitantly. A moment later her expression changes to slightly apologetic as she is unsure whether she overstepped or not, since the woman still hasn’t replied.

 

“How old are you again?” Taina replies warmly, not exactly confirming, but neither denying the implication. Although to say she way impressed with the girl’s intuition and matureness in her assessment would be an understatement.

 

“Fifteen.” Seo-Yeon replies with a small smile. She supposes that’s all she will be getting out of her new friend.

 

* * *

 

When Grace pushes open the apartment door with what feels like the last bit of her strength, she is surprisingly greeted by the pleasant smell of food that’s just being prepared. While tossing her barrett aside, revealing not colorful bangs and pigtails, but an orderly comped ponytail, she spends only the shortest fraction of a second wondering how the other woman could have known she was coming home around this time, but then starts making her way to the kitchen, absentmindedly wandering through the living room, not picking up on the assortment of colorful clothes and the stack of textbooks on the counter, but leaving a trail of bits and pieces of her dress uniform in her path herself.

Taina must have picked up on her presence by now, but doesn’t turn away from the stove, apparently continuing to tend to whatever it is she’s cooking. When the Korean reaches her, she intimately wraps her arms around the Brazilian’s midriff, and presses herself against her back, for a long moment resting against her. The other woman doesn’t so much as flinch at the sudden contact, and just proceeds with what she is doing, while Grace is just standing there motionlessly.

 

“I missed you _so_ much.” she eventually establishes in what is almost a whisper. It’s not really what she wants to say, but it has to suffice. For a brief moment she even contemplates addressing the other woman’s last words immediately, a mixture of anticipation and anxiety, she might have changed her mind in the meantime or didn’t mean it the way she wants her to, rising.

 

“I missed you too.” the other woman replies almost immediately and slightly shifts her position, to better accommodate the smaller woman and lean into her. At that Grace slightly gets on her toes, still not letting go of the Brazilian, to rest her chin on the bare skin of her shoulder– she is wearing a wide shoulder cut top –and peaks into the pan in front of her. Apparently she is preparing some sort of fried seafood and vegetables; It smells amazing. Still thinking about the last thing the Brazilian has said to her, Grace hesitates for a moment, again thinking about speaking her mind but then decides against it, and simply presses an appreciating kiss to the Brazilian’s cheek, that neither of them seems particularly uncomfortable with, prompting Taina to breath out an affirming sigh, that makes the smaller woman’s face tingle for a bit. In light of the last week it somehow feels like there isn’t really any space between them anymore. Everything being what it’s supposed to be; Merely remaining unspoken.

 

“I will be done in a minute.” the taller woman follows up, almost heralding more to come. If she didn’t know better, Grace would say her tone was almost suggestively.

 

“You didn’t tell me you guys were dating!” a very familiar but unexpected voice breaks her out of her thoughts, just as she’s about to press another soft kiss to the other woman’s cheek, the sudden and surprising event making her squeal and jerk away from the other woman startled.

 

“We aren’t really...” She begins automatically, before she even realizes who the voice belongs to, as Taina calmly sets the pan aside and turns of the stove.

 

“Seoya, what the fuck!” the Korean woman bursts out when it eventually hits her after a moment of staring at the girl in disbelieve.

 

“Hey, Eun-Hye. Good to see you.” Seo-Yeon offers sheepishly and looks back at her with a strange mixture of happiness and fear, reluctantly waving at her.

 

“What are you doing here?” Grace asks, a little more composed but still not quite believing her eyes, and crosses the distance between them, enclosing the girl in a heartfelt hug.

 

“I, _Uh_.” The girl hesitates suddenly fidgeting in the woman’s grasp.

 

“She ran away from home.” Taina establishes on her behalf, and pointedly positions herself next to the sisters.

 

“You did what?” Grace asks, as a slight hint of anger rises in her voice, and lets go of her sister. It must sound quite reproachful to the girl, because she immediately jumps into full on defensive mode.

 

“You don’t know what its like. Dad is never there and mom doesn’t even care I exist, if she doesn’t need me to parade me around in front of her _friends_.” she retorts, noticeably close to break into tears again.

 

“Your mom cares for you too.” Grace implores sternly, but in reality it sounds more like she is trying to convince herself, even grimacing at her own statement after a second.

 

“No. _Your_ mom cares for me. And I thought you did too.” Seo-Yeon suddenly snarls, making Taina wonder were the sudden attack on the other woman comes from.

 

“Seoya. Your mother has a restraining order against my mom.” the Korean woman’s voice softens again, as she’s practically pleading for her sister to calm down.

 

“Yes, and then you left too.” the girl establishes agitated and glares at her sister challengingly.

 

“You are being unfair. You had two parents and a home. You told me to go if it’s what made me happy.” Grace tries her best to stay calm, although Taina, who is still quietly following the exchange, can see she is struggling to not actually defend herself, as the apparent rift between the sisters widens.

 

“Yeah, and I bet you didn’t think about me either.” Seo-Yeon hisses and Grace noticeably clenches her fists. Just as she is about to open her mouth, now likewise glaring back at the girl who obviously has struck a nerve, the Brazilian woman grabs her hand, prompting her tension to slightly ease again, and steps in between them, facing the girl. The other woman huffs in protest, but Taina only pulls her closer behind herself, their hands still firmly clasped together, as the Brazilian stares the girl down in silence.

 

“We can discuss all of this after dinner. And believe me, I know exactly how you feel, _but_ you are _not_ talking to your sister like that. Do you hear me?” the taller woman warns once the girl can’t hold her gaze anymore. Seo-Yeon opens her mouth to protest, but Taina immediately shuts her down. “And I don’t care who is in the right. Just sit down before the food gets cold.”

At this point even Grace winces slightly, because the Brazilian has been using _that_ voice. The voice usually and distinctively only reserved for people who are either about to get on her wrong side, or are long past it.

 

The girl looks at her defiantly for a short moment, seemingly unfazed, but then turns away in defeat and walks over to the kitchen grumbling and pointedly ignoring her sister.

 

“Do you want to change first?” Taina addresses the Korean woman softly after turning towards her, all traces of authority gone in an instant.

 

Grace looks pretty agitated and only nods, looking down into the space in between them. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would have said next.” she establishes quietly.

 

“It’s okay.” The Brazilian replies, grabbing her other hand too, affirmingly squeezing and playfully dangling them between them to dispel the tension. It’s that thing again. The thing that has changed. It almost makes the Korean woman smile again, just thinking about that this is how it is now.

 

After the three of them have settled at the counter in complete silence, Grace now dressed in sweatpants and one of her colorful shirts, the sisters wordlessly devour the food in front of them. Taina can’t help but frown at the fact how similar they are, and that they would be at each other’s throat this quickly, but supposes there isn’t much she can do about it right now. She is going to ask Grace about what has happened between them and their mothers, though. Because until that moment the girl hasn’t struck her as someone who would allege these kind of hurtful things so easily.

When they are done, Taina politely asks Seo-Yeon to do the dishes, which she unquestioningly does, her sister’s eyes widening at the way she does the Brazilian’s bidding without complaining. The girl must have seen her puzzled expression, because her own face is positively indifferent and she does the chore in silence, as if she means to say this would be her normal behavior if people just asked her.

 

“I’m sorry I didn’t warn you. I tried to call, but your phone was dead.” the taller woman leans over, enabling Grace to rest her head on her shoulder after they relocated to the couch, now watching the girl go about her task from afar.

 

“Yeah. The damn thing died after our last call and I was unable to commandeer a new one. I actually just picked one up on my way back.” the Korean replies quietly.

 

“The good news is, we are not going to be charged with child abduction, because turns out her mother really doesn’t care apparently.” Taina dryly informs her of her call with Echo.

 

“I know.” Grace concedes. “She is a gold digging piece of shit. Nothing more. The only reason she got that restraining order is because she couldn’t stand the thought of my mom raising Seoya. She actually reported her for child abduction, but I kind of told her she might die in an unexplained car accident if she didn’t drop it. So the lawyers settled for a restraining order the next day. That’s also why she didn’t try to obtain one against me.” the smaller woman recounts. Usually she would say something like that as a joke, but her voice is level and dead serious.

 

“What about your dad?” Taina follows up calmly.

 

“Our dad is an idiot. He means well, but for a person as smart as him he can be really oblivious to these kind of things.” Grace gestures wildly with her free hand as she recounts the story. “He actually still believes we could be one big happy family, if only our moms came around to tolerate each other. Never mind the evil stepmom is only five years older than me.” She pauses for moment as if she means to add another insult but then apparently drops it. “In his credit though; Even though he could have gotten away with almost nothing, he actually gave my mom half of everything in the divorce without even hesitating.”

 

Taina only hums in response, indicating for Grace to go on.

 

“I never liked her mother, even when she still tried to get along with me, because she was at least smart enough to figure out she couldn’t drive a wedge between me and Dad; So I moved in with my mom after my parents separated. That was the year after our dad hit it big, by the way; Go figure about _her_ undying love for him.” the Korean’s face turns almost angry at the thought for a second. “Obviously Seoya’s _mother_ also couldn’t be bothered with actual parenting, so she quickly passed that on to a nanny.” Grace’s voice quickly turns judgmental as she describes the way her stepmom doesn’t care for her sister the least bit.

“When she was about two, I might or might not have suggested _I_ could take care of her a day a week or so; Which quickly turned to weekdays in general, especially after high school. She doesn’t remember, but I also spend a small fortune getting back to Seoul during university. We raised her. Not her mom, or even our dad.” There is a strong sense of pride in her words. It’s easy to tell what the girls means to her. “Even when I was in the army I spend every free minute with her and my mom. But then her mother found out. That was when she was around twelve. And _then_ I joined Six a year later.” Grace adds sadly, a rueful tone in her voice.

 

“You did all you could. And you were right; She has parents and a home after all.” the Brazilian implores, gently pulling her closer to her side.

 

“I know. But _we_ were her parents. I can’t claim to have raised her, and not accept blame for the impact my leaving had.” Grace insists and slightly adjusts her position next to Taina to create a small amount of space between them.

 

“Hey Eun-Hye.” The younger Korean’s voice interrupts their conversation. “I’m sorry for saying all these awful things. I know you always were there for me. And I don’t think you left me behind. I was… I am very proud of you.” the girl announces solemnly, as if she has heard her telling the story all along. Although that would be nigh impossible, because she, mostly to spite the women, had opted to blare loud music while doing the dishes. Her expression is somewhat confident, but there is also a hint of fear she might have seriously hurt the most important person in her life.

The Brazilian lips softly curl into a small smile, as she squeezes Grace’s hand. The other woman only stares at her sister for moment, but then her expression drops into a benign smile too.

 

“I know shorty.” she replies sympathetically, and wiggles her fingers, gesturing for her to join them, which she visibly relieved does. As the girl takes her place at her side, leaning into Grace’s body, the older woman wraps her arm around her head, gently stroking her short hair. “We will figure it out.”

 

After a few minutes of quiet togetherness– Grace looks like she is about to doze off any second –something starts to scratch the back of Seo-Yeon's mind again. Something seems out of place. She carefully shifts around at her sister’s side for a moment, before she figures it out; Her new friends hand is pinned between them on her sister’s hip. Her eyes slightly widen in surprise, as her mind quickly trails back to her initial question. She spends a moment pondering whether or not she should just ask, watching the two woman from the corner of her eye; They are awfully cozy, even by her sister’s standards. But why would Grace deny they were dating, and why didn’t the other woman say something when they were alone? She knows, her sister knows, she doesn’t care for that sort of thing. She supposes Taina could not have. But on the other hand…

After her short deliberation she quickly untangles herself from the older woman’s hold, and gets up with a little jump. “I totally forgot, I’m supposed to meet my friends today. I’ll let you two catch up.” She announced a second later, and quickly vanishes into the bedroom, before either of them can object, only to return less than a minute later already completely dressed, then practically flees the apartment. “See you later!”

 

“I think I want a nap.” Grace establishes almost drowsily a moment after the door flies shut, and sits up in her spot, detaching herself from the other woman.

 

“Sure. I can go read something.” Taina offers politely, and starts getting up from the couch, but is stopped by the quasi reproachful look the shorter woman is shooting her. They exchange a quick look, then the Brazilian wordlessly shifts into a lying position, shuffling her body as close to the edge of the couch as possible, so Grace can slip most of her body into the space between the back rest and her own. After the Korean has comfortably placed herself half on top of the other woman, she easily drapes one arm over her waist and the other on her shoulder, cushioning her face.

 

“Do you mind telling me another story?” she asks softly, since then almost by habit, but also longing. The Brazilian only hums, and wraps her arm around Grace’s head, gently playing with a strain of her hair, while she begins summarizing another favorite book of hers.

 

* * *

 

When Grace wakes up a few hours later, she is only greeted by the quiet sound of the taller woman’s breathing. The steady up and down of her chest moving the Korean’s body with her. She thinks she will allow herself to spend the next few minutes quietly watching the other woman sleeping, but a moment later her eyes open too, prompting Grace to wonder how she’s always able to do that.

 

“So, you liked the kiss.” She iterates boldly. It’s merely a statement of fact, she supposes, but the inherent question remains, and there is challenging suggestiveness in the way she says it. When her comment remains unanswered for too long for her to bear, the Korean lifts her body off the other woman’s chest and props her up on her arms, her face briefly lingering above the other woman’s, before she somehow manages to sit up in the small space, her legs nonetheless draped over Taina’s body. The silence during what feels like an eternity to Grace is extremely unsettling, again putting in question she has believed to be true over the course of the last few days.

The taller woman still only looks at her, staring right into her eyes with an unreadable expression; Grace is sure it’s about to turn into that sad pity it always does. But then she opens her mouth. Slowly. Hesitantly. Like she is unsure what to say herself.

 

“Why, wanna do it again?” the Brazilian’s voice fills the void forming in the smaller woman’s mind. It’s warm and happy, and there is an unfamiliar kind of innuendo in it. Grace only blinks irritated. Maybe in shock. The question not really leading to a coherent thought yet. Another moment goes in which they just stare at each other, an unspoken understanding forming between them, desire quickly replacing any doubt or objection either one of them might have had, and everything else goes blank.

 

Without hesitation, the smaller woman swings her leg over Taina’s hips, eagerly pressing down on her body with her weight, as the Brazilian’s hand quickly settle around her hips, grabbing her butt, and pulling her closer. But instead Grace slides back, already intensively grinding on the edge of Taina’s pelvis, and leans down to eventually, finally, kiss her again. Nothing is going to stop her this time.

It’s neither soft nor gentle, their faces bumping into each other roughly, their mouths insistently pressed together, almost completely unrestrained.

Now Grace reaches out, aggressively feeling her way up the other woman’s shirt, her finger unwittingly pressing into the other woman’s skin. A slight shiver runs through the Brazilian’s body as her fingers brush over the bullet scar, and Taina raises her leg against the Korean’s center, eliciting a soft moan.

A moment later their hands meet on the Brazilian’s body. As Taina starts to pull on her own shirt too, Grace quickly lets go of her and reluctantly breaks apart their faces, pulling at the other woman’s lower lip, as she straightens out her body, her own shirt already half above her head.

 

An _inconveniently_ timed moment later, the apartment door flies open energetically, unmistakably announcing Seo-Yeon’s return, and both the women freeze in place, a panicking look forming over the heat on the older Korean’s face.

 

“You had four hours!” the scandalized voice of the younger sister greets them gleefully, as she takes in the scene before her, while Grace scrambled to tug her shirt back into place, almost falling off the couch in the process, as her face goes from the soft blush accompanying their previous activity to a much darker shade of crimson. Taina, save for the slight flush on her face, looks mostly presentable, but the smaller woman’s hair is a mess because she got rid of her scrunchy as soon as they laid down– Which is perfectly normal if you are about to take a nap by the way! –And the way they are still pretty much stuck in this very compromising pose doesn’t help their case. God, she feels like she has been caught by her mother in high school.

 

“ _I_ … _We_ … We took a nap, and I was about to go take a shower and...” The Korean woman justifies flimsily, while the other woman, who is still trapped under her, seemingly tries to stifle a laugh at her sudden ineptitude; Something Grace wouldn’t even have thought she might see during her lifetime.

 

“I’m fifteen, not seven and a half. You don’t have to call her your special girl _friend_ anymore.” the girl retorts cheekily and grins at her sister with the most self-satisfied expression ever. “And that’s an awfully impractical way to get undressed if you want to take a shower.” she adds for comical effect. Grace only grimaces at the inevitably compromising nature of the whole situation, and the fact the girl after so many years still remembers that particular situation.

 

“Where have been so long anyway?” she quickly tries to change the subject and turn the conversation on the girl, as Taina crawls out from under her, and the women take a vaguely modest position next to each other again, their clothes mostly in place.

 

“I went home and picked up my Yo.” the girl casually points at the large bag about her own size she dragged in with her.

 

“Don’t worry. Nobody was there, except for the maid. And we are cool.” Seo-Yeon reassures, seeing how her sisters face turns to a rather worried expression at the notion she went home, and crosses her fingers for emphasis.

 

“Why would you get your Yo?” Grace inquires, slightly denser than she would usually be, prompting the girl to shoot her an incredulous look. “I’m moving into your office. Obviously.”

 

Taina at least offers the girl an appreciating smile before speaking up. “You didn’t have to do that. I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.” the Brazilian offers warmly. She knows the statements aren’t strictly mutual exclusive, so she basically just confirmed what the girl is insinuating. And she knows Seo-Yeon is mindful enough to get that. Sure enough the younger Korean’s smile turns visibly smug at her words.

 

“Oh. I hadn’t thought about that yet.” the other woman concedes sheepishly and slumps, sighing loudly at the way the girl has them figured out already. She hasn’t even thought about all the other implications yet, especially in light of the past hours. But now she wishes they would have had at least another twenty minutes, her already noticeable frustration rising as her thoughts still linger at what could have been, because she isn’t going to risk _that_ , with her little sister in the other room.

 

After Seo-Yeon has migrated all her stuff from the bedroom to the small office, where the majority of it now rests on top of the desk in a big pile that brings another smile to the Brazilian’s face– apparently the sisters also share a general sense of order –the three of them gather in front of the TV for the evening, all the lust and desire of their previous encounter almost forgotten for the moment or replaced by remnants of frustration. Taina offered to cook, but apparently the prospect of ordering pizza is far more appealing to the Korean women, so she agrees to that, albeit with a roll of her eyes. When the day finally draws to an end, she is buried under both the sisters, who as time has passed have forced her into the outer most corner of the couch; _And_ joined her there.

 

“Thanks for watching out for Seoya.” Grace says quietly, as she drabs her arm over Taina’s waist for the night and easily settles at her side. And it’s _so much_ easier than before, although she has to somewhat remind herself over and over again that its okay now. Every afterthought about the nature of their relationship turned into comforting certainty.

Even though they haven’t really talked about it yet, every single one of the other woman’s few words ring back in her mind, being meticulously scrutinized over and over again; Maybe things will change tomorrow; Maybe it was the heat of the moment; But tonight she simply won’t worry about that. Because for once she knows.


	12. End Of The Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. I'm sorry for the late update. I know it's not really something to apologize for, but my dad died a few days after the last update, and my mojo kind of went down the drain. Understandibly so, I guess. I'm not fishing for sympathy here,(the dedication would feel out of place otherwise I suppose) I'd actually prefer you don't say anything about it in the comments, if at all, but urge you to spend some time with, or call the people you love, while you still can. Also we are featuring one of the many books from my dad's large collection of contemporary scifi from his youth.
> 
> Here's to you Papa.
> 
> Now that that's out of the way: Enjoy!

Grace is sitting on her half of the bed, although it’s more like her three-quarter of the bed to be fair, her legs neatly folded under her, impatiently eyeing the woman sleeping next her. The tall brunette lies curled in the remaining space, facing her, the same even expression on her face as usual. Why, of all days would she sleep in today? Usually she would quasi automatically wake only moments after Grace.

Torn between the burning question she would have preferred to have answered the evening before, but could not bring herself to ask, unwilling to give up on the togetherness that meant so much to her, and the wonder if this was a sign she was completely comfortable with yesterday’s events, the only thing she can do right now is watching the Brazilian’s sleeping face; Even though she doesn’t look particular happy, she doesn’t have the same expression of subtle pain and worry that seemingly always cloud her mood. At least not entirely. She lets out another pointed sigh, trying to maybe _accidentally_ prompt her to wake up, but to no avail.

 

Grace has almost given up on waiting and is about to crawl out of bed, when the so eagerly awaited words finally come, accompanied by gentle fingers grabbing her her hand and tugging her back in her spot.

 

“Hey.” Taina’s sleepy voice greets her, when she turns towards her again, as the other woman’s eyes slowly open, looking back at her with nothing but fondness.

 

“Good Morning.” The Korean replies eagerly, as her face lights up, encouraged by the gesture.

 

“I’m sorry. Did I oversleep?” the Brazilian inquires friendly, and offers a gentle smile.

 

“ _Oh_ , _Uhm_ , No I’m...” Grace replies, suddenly overly aware of the intense look she must be giving her. As so often, a long moment goes by in complete silence, giving the tall brunette the opportunity to completely wake up.

 

“What is it?” Taina asks eventually, not having taken her eyes off Grace in the meantime and still holding her hand. She supposes the question is mostly rhetorical, because she is pretty sure what’s on her mind, after all they haven’t talked a single word about it yet, but also doesn’t want to ambush her.

After another pause the Korean still looks at her, like she is unsure what to say, so Taina quickly sits up next to her, resting against the short headboard, now that she isn’t on her side anymore, the lack of space placing them close together.

 

“I think I need to know.” Grace announces cryptically, visibly struggling to hold the other woman’s gaze. “What changed.” She clarifies a second later. “And what this is.” She adds, making a vaguely all including gesture with her arm around them. The Brazilian immediately nods approvingly, but takes a moment to consider her words, gently squeezing Grace’s hand, trying to ease her obvious anxiety over the fact she hasn’t answered yet, as time passes.

 

“I can easily recount the number of times I said ‘I love you’ of my own.” She establishes seriously, but still with the same affectionate expression on her face. The Korean looks at her slightly puzzled, not quite able to figure out what to do with the revelation.

“I always said it back. And I always meant it; Actually always felt it.” the brunette continues. “Even after we got married…” She pauses for a moment, collecting her thoughts. It’s easy to discern what ever this is going to be doesn’t come easy to her, and she seemingly changes her approach, noticeably not finishing the sentence.

“The way you are.. with your cheerfulness and enthusiasm for basically everything. You kind of drag me up with you. That’s something I like about you, even if I won’t admit it to most of the time. I also liked that about…” She stops again to quickly relativize in a pleading tone. “But it’s not about Mariana. I don’t like you because you are like her. Don’t ever think that. This isn’t the least bit about her. It’s one of the reasons I like you both, independently, if that makes sense.” She watches the Korean’s expression for a short moment, dreading she might take her words as a disparagement of their relationship, but sees no sign of it. “Even before… It’s not that I don’t want to… It’s just...” the last part she tells with an almost desperate tone in her voice.

 

“It almost causes you physical pain.” Grace interjects, remembering Karaoke night, before falling silent again, still eyeing the other woman intensively. Taina nods, thankful and relieved the other woman apparently already understands what she is trying to say.

“When I think about you and me; If we actually tried, I always feel like at one point I won’t be able to give you what you want.” Taina takes a large breath, pursing her lips right after, as if actually unwilling to go on. In this moment, of all things she could, or maybe _should_ think about, it occurs to Grace, that the other woman, is remarkably ineloquent for someone who spends most of her time reading books in every conceivable language.

 

“But I recently came to the realization that’s not my decision to make.” the Brazilian establishes momentously.

 

“I made a promise. At the time I had no intention to keep it, actually.” she adds. Grace again only looks at her in slight confusion, unsure what she is trying to say. “...I didn’t think I would ever be able to. And I still sometimes think you deserve better. That I might eventually hurt you. And it scares me, thinking about that.” she pauses one last time. “But… I want to try. Try to be more normal for you.”

 

The frown quickly starts to form on the smaller woman’s face; She has never seen the point of being normal. Which is just a polite way to say ‘comformative’. Taina is by far the best thing that happened to her in a long time. If anything _she_ has doubts she won’t live up to...

 

“If you’d want me.” Taina adds with a reluctant smile and quickly looks away. The Korean’s expression noticeably lights up at her words; For a split second she was actually unsure the other woman would actually follow through with another rejection.

 

“I’m not good at this.”the Brazilian reiterates instead after a short moment of silence, looking at the smaller woman with an apologetic expression, as Grace only blinks owlishly, quietly processing her words, her expression slowly morphing into ever growing confidence.

 

“No matter what you say, we will still be friends. Yesterday was...” Taina starts to fill the silence, and now Grace _has_ to stop her. If she actually says what she is about to say it’s going to break her heart, and she won’t be able to take that after yesterday. No matter if she means it or just tries to reassure her of their friendship.

 

“So, would it be okay if I kiss you now?” She presses without thinking, and practically crawls into Taina’s lap, quickly closing the distance between their faces.

 

“I kind of hopped you would say that.” the Brazilian offers hesitantly, without any innuendo.

 

Unlike the day before it’s a soft, almost innocent kiss; Grace cupping the other woman’s face in her hands, while gently pressing their lips together a few times, the two women almost melting into each other in the process.

 

“I have a present for you.” the Korean woman establishes breathlessly after pulling away a few moments later, and quickly rolls towards her side of the bed. After vanishing into closet for a moment she returns a neatly wrapped, vaguely book shaped present in hand.

 

“Tristan said he was sure you haven’t read it.” She admits and hands the bundle to the Brazilian.

 

“Thank you.” the other woman offers warmly, before even unwrapping the gift. When she tears the paper apart an old-ish looking book appears. Just the smell reveals that it must have been printed at least thirty years ago. The cover is entirely black, large golden letters spelling out the author and the title. _Stanislaw Lem – Solaris._

 

“I, _Uh_ , know you like the smell of printing ink.” Grace offers hesitantly. “It’s one of the first English editions.”

 

“Apparently there is also several movies. But Tristan said they suck because they leave out the philosophical parts.” the smaller woman informs her.

 

“That’s… Thank you.” Taina replies again, visibly affected by the gift.

 

“I want to go on a date!” the smaller woman suddenly blurts out. Her face is very confident at first, but as the seconds go by, it turns increasingly insecure. “I actually had a lot planed for the next two weeks.” she establishes. “But there is this _thing_ I want to go to on a date with you. Like, a real _date_ date. But I can’t tell you what it is. It’s a surprise...” she rambles, still looking at the Brazilian expectantly for her answer.

 

“I’d love to.” Taina replies with an affectionate smile, and starts to pull the other woman towards her again.

 

“It’s kind of the wrong order, isn’t it?” Grace giggles after another gentle kiss.

 

“Do you want me to migrate to the couch?” the Brazilian offers with an overly innocent expression. – A joke. A joke!

 

“No!” the smaller woman replies in feign outrage and softly swings her pillow at her.

 

* * *

 

“So, Dad is actually positively thrilled I took time out of my _busy schedule_ to pick you up from school the other day; Although he kind of wondered, because your mother told him you were sleeping over at, and I quote, ‘Choi something’.” Grace announces after returning from the balcony and hanging up her phone. “Anyhow. Since you weren’t home, she took off to Yongpyong.” Seo-Yeon puts down the tablet in her hand, and for a short moment looks like she is about explode again, but then only passive aggressively shakes her bangs out of her field of view, before quietly nodding her acknowledgment.

“I also called your school, and since apparently your grades are, and I quote again ‘exceptional’, they kindly agreed to to give you the week off to spend with your _estranged_ sister.” the Korean woman grins impishly. “Your English teacher even insisted on giving you an automatic A on your essay due on Friday. She seems to be very nice.” Grace adds with a reassuring smile. “Unless you don’t want to spend the week with us.”

 

“Oh my god. Yes!” the girl exclaims overjoyed and starts sauntering towards her sister, just as Taina returns from showering, still drying her head.

 

“You haven’t heard the best.” the oldest woman interrupts her sister’s dance of joy. “Since your mom and Dad are gone for the week, I’m going to ask Mom to come over for dinner this Friday.” Grace adds, pointedly raising her index finger to her lips to convey this arrangement still has to stay a secret.

The Brazilian woman and the girl, although for entirely different reasons, both freeze in place at the impromptu announcement. Seo-Yeon looks like she is about to burst into tears, while Taina looks mortified. Well, as much as _the Caveira_ has the capacity to.

 

“I… If you want to be alone with your mother, it’s okay, I can...” the Brazilian begins helplessly, making a big show of being accommodating, prompting Grace to chuckle joyfully.

 

“But who is going to cook?” the Korean asks gleefully. “You wouldn’t want for my mom to suffer from food poisoning.” She adds. She knows she has the other woman wrapped around her finger already.

 

“She has a point.” the girl adds unhelpfully, her smile matching her sister’s through wet eyes. “She burned instant noodles once.”

 

“I needed to finish the game!” the older sister protests affronted. Taina only groans in defeat.

 

A moment goes by with the taller woman accepting the fact she is going to meet Grace’s mother after only officially dating for two days. Although that’s kind of like saying the American Revolution started with the Declaration of Independence. So there is that.

 

“There is another thing.” The Korean establishes reluctantly. “Seoya, you are attending training today, right?” the older sister asks.

 

“ _Uhm_ , Yes.” the girl offers with a questioning look.

 

“That’s great, because I agreed to teach today’s lesson. And I kind of hopped you could assist me?” Grace addressed the other woman, chewing her lower lip nervously. To be fair she had that plan for a while, but couldn’t foresee the recent developments in their relationship. The other day teaching a class together had actually sounded like a fun idea.

 

“Training.” The Brazilian repeats dryly, and one last time rubs the towel against the back of her head, before throwing it over her shoulder.

 

“BJJ.” Grace clarifies. “We will do it in English. You just need to follow my lead. It will be fun I swear!” she implores, closing the distance between them and makes puppy eyes at her. “For me.”

 

Taina only exhales loudly through her nose. “Okay.” Maybe spending some quality time together will be nice.

 

For a moment the Korean wanders of into the bedroom, and returns with a black gi, seemingly Taina’s size. “I didn’t know if you what clothes you would bring.” She justifies, offering the folded stack of clothes to the taller woman.

 

“Right.” Taina replies, already regretting agreeing to do this.

 

“But first, we are going shopping!” Grace exclaims, prompting the girl’s face to light up even more, while the Brazilian looks even less thrilled. “I promise, there is something in it for you.” the Korean woman adds happily and throws her arms around her from behind, gently pressing a kiss to her cheek. It takes only a moment before the tension in the other woman’s body dissipates, as she eases into the embrace.

 

“Okay.”

 

* * *

 

“What do you think?” Grace inquires slyly with a smug expression, alternating between holding two different sets of lingerie, she already tried on by herself, in front of her body.

 

Taina who has practically fazed out and drawn back into her own mind amidst the crowds swarming around them in the store looks up from where she has been eyeing the ground.

 

“They both look good.” she states curtly, only paying half attention, and slowly drops her head again, already worn down from wandering from store to store all morning and early afternoon. A loud snort escapes the girl next her’s face, as the other woman deflates and her face twists into disappointment at the lack of interest. After all this was supposed to be _the_ surprise.

 

“I don’t think she’s asking your general opinion.” Seo-Yeon cackles, looking up from her phone visually amused by her reaction, and gently elbows the taller woman.

 

“ _Oh._ I see.” the Brazilian replies awkwardly, raising her head again and straightening out her posture to take a real look, the slightest blush spreading on her face at the realization.

–For the record: It’s not that she doesn’t enjoy shopping, conceptually. Even though she hasn’t made use of them until lately for a long time, she owns clothes too. A lot of which she bought not out of necessity, but because she simply liked them. But she hates the crowds and the tumult, people elbowing each other out of the way over a blouse. She simply feels out of place in these situations and prefers small shops at after hours, not these monstrosities of bright lights and annoying music. And to be fair, the stores the sisters frequent aren’t particularly her style either. –

In her left hand the Korean holds a dark cobalt strapless bralette combined with pretty low cut matching hipster panties. Both pieces made entirely from lace, not really revealing but by no means opaque. Before she can even consider the second piece the Brazilian’s imagination involuntarily trails off for the shortest moment, she still has that months old picture committed to memory, before she quickly composes herself. In her right hand Grace holds up a very fine and minimalist, but still practical bra and even lower cut bikini bottoms in a soft blue with a slight green, almost turquoise tint. While both pieces are made from lace too, large portions of the material are see-through.

Considering her choice, for a by any standard too long to be unsuspicious amount of time the tall brunette only blinks owlishly. Her hesitation doesn’t go unnoticed, as the happiness quickly returns to Grace’s face.

 

“So?” She inquires roguishly, drawing out the _O_ for as long as possible, but doesn’t receive an answer right away.

 

“ _Er_ , I...” Taina replies incoherently, eyes still fixed on the items. It’s these moments when a somewhat unfiltered emotional reaction falls through the cracks of the walls the other woman is building around herself even now, even around Grace, that keeps the Korean’s hopes up that everything is going to be okay.

 

“ _Both_.” Seo-Yeon interjects and giggles happily, prompting her sister to only shrug with a grin and place both items on the stack of clothes she has created on the third chair next to them. She briefly considers teasing the other woman some more, but quickly figures she has already endured enough today. She is also incredibly relieved she at least seems to be still entirely on board with the whole relationship thing. Something Grace spends too much time reassuring herself of every other minute.

 

“Thin ice Shorty!” Taina deadpans and pulls down the hood of the ridiculous raccoon hoodie she has bought two stores ago into the girls face, eliciting a squeal, followed by only more giggles.

She almost forgot how this whole having normal or even endearing relationships with people thing felt; Miriana would always playfully scold her if she did that drawing back into herself thing in public or gave a random stranger a death glare. Having the sisters good-naturedly poke fun of her has vaguely the same soothing effect on her, even bringing a smile to her face.

 

“Let’s get something to eat and then go home.” Grace declares. “Training begins seventeen hundred.” She adds matter-of-factly. Taina only groans quietly, realizing her torment for the day hasn’t ended yet; Because, really in which world would she not draw the shorter straw in this arrangement in some shape or form. The other woman quickly pecks her temple as she passes her, carrying the large pile of clothes towards the checkout.

When she is gone, Taina brings up her hand to rub the spot for a second. It’s not that easy for her to constantly have someone invade her personal space in that way again. But something inside her is glad that Grace has no reservations in that regard, even after knowing all these things about her.

 

* * *

 

In hindsight she should have declined participating in the training to begin with; Or at least have Grace tell her what it was they were to demonstrate. Because; She really tries to stay professionally, but after weeks of tiptoeing around the issue and yesterday in particular, she isn’t sure she is entirely okay with _this_.

 

“...So, what you want to do to stay on top of a larger and stronger opponent, especially in a higher mount...” Grace instructs and Seo-Yeon reiterates in Korean to the group of teenage girls lined up next to them in their white gis, their legs folded under them, hands placed in their laps. “...is getting your knees under your partners elbow. This way they have a hard time rocking you off themselves.” The Korean woman goes on routinely and slides off of Taina’s hips and more towards her torso. This back and forth, practically grinding, has been going on for several minutes now, always accompanied by a flurry of giggles from the attending crowd of girls, unsurprisingly lead by the younger sister, because what would there be to giggle without some backstory. Also unsurprisingly Grace’s is at least a little bit delighted by this, as indicated by the fact that she hasn’t addressed it at all so far.

 

“If your opponent has long sleeves or wears a gi, you can achieve this by tugging their arm upwards using them. Otherwise you have to scoop up their elbows.” Grace demonstrates. “However, you always want to stay as low as possible, and emphasize your own weight as much as you can by sinking your hips back, or your partner might simply throw you off. Use your hands to stabilize your position.” She places Taina’s hands on her armpits, signaling for her to try and push her off, while she stretches her arms out upwards, pushing herself down onto the other woman’s body even more. Her torso now basically resting on the Brazilian’s face, who by now considers actually fighting back to get her off of her. “If they try to push you off backwards, you can also hug their head.” Grace explains, now basically pushing the other woman’s face into her chest, before quickly letting go. “Just react to your partners movement.” She finishes. “Now pair up and try to throw each other off. If there are any questions, just ask me, or Taina, if you want. Seo-Yeon can translate if you are not brave enough.” The Korean adds with a sincere smile and stands up on the spot, quickly extending her hand to help up the other woman, but she strangle gets up without taking it before she can even finish the motion. And although they spend about an hour explaining and independently helping and demonstrating the girls, which the other woman watches with a somewhat affectionate fascination, because there is something about the way she interacts with the girls and explains things that makes Grace’s heart overflow with affection, something feels off about her demeanor towards her, leaving her with a strange feeling.

 

* * *

 

“So, Seoya...” Grace begins into the uncomfortable silence over dinner. After their lesson, which she didn’t feel went terribly bad or something, Taina has suddenly started actively avoiding all her attempts at initializing physical displays of affection. She supposes she gets she would have thought of her suggestion to _take a shower,_ while the girls are occupied getting the gym back in order, as inappropriate, but still feels treated unfairly. Especially since the Brazilian’s speech this morning. She genuinely thought she would do her a favor with the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after their shopping tour, which she visibly didn’t enjoy all that much. She is still determined to go through with her plan for the next day though.

 

She and her sister have this thing, were they sometimes would know what the other was about to say without so much as looking at each other, like yesterday. It happens again.

 

“I don’t mind staying with Ji-Hun tomorrow. I mean he is fun, and basically lets me do what I want.” She replies friendly, without the slightest bit of anger or disappointment, before Grace can even state her case. “Also, _he_ lets me have the bed.” the girl adds with a grin.

 

“ _Oh_. Okay. _Thank you_. I’m going to tell him to pick you up around noon, if that’s okay with you.” the older sister replies,, nothing but relieve in her voice, wincing slightly at the suggestive comment.

Suddenly it occurs to Taina that she hasn’t spend the day deliberately making her miserable, but softening up the girl for this very moment. She quickly glances over to the girls plate, which luckily is already empty.

 

“You can go if you want.” She states with an undertone that makes it anything but a suggestion. “We’ll take care of the dishes.” she adds, giving the girl a serious look. As usual during the last few days, Seo-Yeon immediately gets what she is saying, and quickly plops off her seat and vanishes into her room, even closing the door behind her.

 

Taina cautiously strokes the other woman’s warm the back of her fingers, gently trying to get her attention. She supposes she hasn’t been mean to her or something, but it’s obvious Grace is upset with her lack of reaction to her advances over the past hours.

 

“I’m sorry...” Grace begins out of habit, trying to be understanding even if she honestly doesn’t, but Taina quickly cuts her off.

 

“Don’t. There is nothing to apologize for. It was a lovely day, really. I’m just a bit overwhelmed.” She concedes. “I’m not used to _all this_ , but spending time with you is still my most favorite thing; I meant every word I said.”

 

Hearing those words, Grace quickly reaches up, intertwining their fingers and pulling the other woman closer, before demonstratively resting her head on her shoulder for a second. She is not hurt or anything; Just a little disappointed things didn’t immediately went as smoothly as she wanted.

 

“I’m actually looking forward to the date.” the Brazilian adds honestly. “Just don’t make it a pop concert.” She jokes, or at least tries, to lighten Grace’s mood again.

 

“ _Awww_ , now you spoiled it.” she chuckles lightly, alleviated by the fact everything seems to be okay, and straightens herself out, as most of the tension between them suddenly gone again.

 

“I suppose _we_ need to do the dishes now.” Taina establishes like the day before with a noticeable amount of innuendo, feigning disappointment, but the smaller woman quickly gets of her seat, pulling her around by her hand in the process. With or without the stool the brunette is taller than Grace, so the Korean rises on her toes, pushing the Brazilian back against the counter, before pulling her into a passionate kiss. It’s not gentle and tender like this morning, but neither hasty and full of lust like yesterday. At first she fears Taina might not return it, but is quickly proven wrong, when she slights of her seat and starts lightly pressing into her, kissing back.

The Brazilian’s hands land on the shorter woman’s hips, as Grace reaches up around her back, pulling them even closer together, and parts her lips. As the kiss heats, she can feel the weight of the taller woman almost fall onto her, her fingers again pressing into the surface of her back. They spend a long while making out some more, before the intensity slowly starts to soften.

“The dishes.” Grace drawls, still smiling into the surface of Taina’s face, before pulling away. For a moment both of them actually look mutually disappointed, but then they just smile and nod their agreement.

 

“You can come out again.” The Korean calls out cheerfully, and completely detaches herself from the other woman, holding her hand until the reach of both their arms is exceeded, and even then lightly pulling her with her, before finally letting go.

 

“Oh good, I forgot to take sweets and some soda.” Seo-Yeon replies, already halfway to the fridge. “I though I’d have to come out with my eyes closed.” She quips, removing her hand from mock covering up her eyes, a little bit disappointed they don’t give her any chance to heckle them this time, but doesn’t fail to notice the rumbled shirts and slightly puffy lips, prompting her to smile at them knowingly.

 

* * *

 

“Are you going to tell me what we are going to do tomorrow?” Taina asks quietly, after Grace presses a last soft kiss to her cheek, before rolling over and settling into the taller woman’s embrace.

 

“ _Hmmm_ , no.” the Korean hums, happily. She can practically see the other woman’s nostrils flare.

 

“Good night, Gracie.” Taina says softly. Grace wants to protest the nickname, but is to far gone already.

 

“Good night, Bookworm.” she manages to breath out before falling asleep.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you are heavy into, or know a lot about BJJ, I can already see you roll your eyes at the lession. I shortened it to only convey the situation at hand, and probably also let out some very important details in the process. So by no means, got out into the wild and start hopping on top of people!


	13. Valió La Pena

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3  
> Powering through it, so Aria doesn't die of an aneurysm because of the anticipation.
> 
> Have a good start into the week everyone.

“Grace–” The Japanese woman’s voice is strained and slightly annoyed already. “–You don’t even _own_ a dress.” she points out from the screen of the tablet on top of the bed.

 

“I own dresses. And that’s not the point.” the Korean protests. “I could still go buy one!”

 

“Grace.” Although she can’t currently see her friend’s face because she is rummaging through the wardrobe again, she can practically see her pinch the bridge of her nose. “Why would you even want to wear a dress this badly?”

 

“Do you think I won’t look good in one?” the younger woman replies, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

 

“I think you look better in pants. You didn’t answer the question.” Yumiko establishes sharply, raising an eyebrow and folding her hands on the table in front of her sententiously, as silence starts to form in between them.

 

“ _No_. No Grace.” the older woman’s voice eventually scolds her. “That’s not… Don’t pretend to be someone you are not.”

 

Grace looks at the screen of the tablet sadly from her spot inside the wardrobe, taken aback by the fact she has been figured out already, again.

 

After a second of chidingly looking at her roommate, the Japanese woman’s expression softens again.

 

“You _should_ go with the high-waist skinny jeans you wore to the Christmas party. They make your butt look even hotter. The black stiletto sandals with the straps, because they are really elegant and make you look a little bit more dignified than light-up sneakers. The comment makes Grace inhale sharply, ready to retort, but Yumiko simply continues; "And that white long sleeve crop top the boys love so much.” she advises reassuringly with a smirk, pointedly not pursuing the previous matter any further. “And please tell me you won’t wear a slouchy.”

 

“Actually…” the Korean’s head vanishes in the wardrobe again, and returns a moment later, with a bright white slouchy in hand. As she closes the distance to the camera at first there are numerous colorful dots visibly on the fabric of the items, but as she comes closer and holds the object into the camera, Yumiko can discern the dots actually being little bright skulls in many different colors.

Although she would prefer Grace would ditch the head wear for the occasion, the older woman can’t help but smile at the admittedly very cute, thoughtful, and distinctively ‘ _Grace_ ’ gesture.

 

“–Okay. And I’m not asking you to leave the glasses, because I know that would be a ludicrous suggestion, but don’t go with the braids.” she implores dryly.

 

“Do you really think?” the other woman asks, fidgeting with said braids.

 

“Yes, at least put them up somehow. Also, open hair makes you look gorgeous. And I have seen how Taina looked at you on Karaoke Night.” Yumiko establishes with a small, mischievous smile. The comment instantly makes Grace blush; Because that was still most definitely not a date.

 

“Thank you.” Grace simply says after another few minutes of pep talk. Even in her most optimistic estimates Taina and Seo-Yeon have to return from the gym any minute. She would honestly have loved to join them, because no offense to Yumiko and her other friends for that matter, these are the people she loves– Yes she thought it. Deal with it. –but this is also very important to her, and something in her mind insisted to do it in private to preserve the surprise, or whatever.

 

“No problem.” the other woman replies warmly, before chirping “Use protection.” and with a wink closes the connection before Grace can even open her mouth to protest.

 

“That’s not how that works….” she meekly mutters into the silence.

 

* * *

 

Ji-Hun is a very attractive man around their age, clad in washed, narrow cut jeans, a slightly worn but clearly very well maintained pair of Vans, and a jeans shirt with rolled up sleeves over a simple white tee. Although after greeting him with a visually comfortable hug and a little banter, Grace pointedly blocks his path and traps him where he is standing in the hallway, he glances over with a self-confident smile, and shoots the Brazilian sitting at the counter a wink and an upwards nod; Bright eyes clearly examining her, from under a set of dark spiky hair, that he obviously spend quite some time arranging. He _is_ attractive. _And he knows it_. The man’s demeanor makes the woman roll her eyes, and she has to actively fight the urge to call him out on his bravado on principle. Her reaction makes him grin even wider.

After a short moment of the two Korean’s lingering at the door, Grace without words scolding him, the younger sister appears from ’her room’, already completely dressed and carrying her backpack, cheerfully shouts his name, and throws her arms around the man’s neck in a tight hug he returns with open arms. They exchange more greetings, but don’t make any small talk or the likes, before Grace practically shoves them out of the apartment, Seo-Yeon only waving at the other woman energetically and yelling a goodbye at her.

 

“So. Ji-Hun.” Taina states flatly, as soon as Grace joins her at the counter. Grace isn’t sure what emotion exactly she is hearing in her voice.

 

“Yes.” she replies curtly.

 

“He seems … _nice_.” the Brazilian establishes, sharply emphasizing the descriptor. The Korean only hums agreeingly, either not aware of, or ignoring the connotation.

 

“How long do you know each other?” the taller woman asks casually. It’s not that she is particularly jealous, even though she is aware one could interpret it that way. Let’s call it _wary_ _of his general deamenour._

 

“Since middle school.” comes an equally as casual reply, and Taina quickly opts to not follow up, albeit with an unreadable expression on her face. After a short moment of noticeable tension following the exchange, they both shrug it off, so the rest of the afternoon goes by uneventful.

Even though they are alone now, Grace doesn’t make any advances or initializes physical contact, and Taina continues to quietly focus on the Korean’s gift from the day before. They essentially just hang out, as they usually would at the coffee shop, or when Grace insisted they need to have lunch together back when they first met. Apparently neither of them being particularly unhappy with the notion of not tearing each other’s clothes off, the second the girl has left the building, as they sit opposite of each other at the counter. Although noticing how Grace looks over from time to time the Brazilian wordlessly reaches her hand towards the middle of the counter, for the short woman to link the tips of their fingers together.

 

* * *

 

 

After a short and frankly uneventful discussion they agree on Grace taking the first turn in the bathroom and getting dressed. When she reappears from the bedroom, all dressed up and ready to go, Taina, who is sitting at the counter in a fresh pair of sweatpants and hoodie–

 

Grace suspects nothing else, and even though she is the one who should be making the other woman’s stomach flip right now can’t prevent herself from stopping and musing over the thought for a short moment.

 

–waiting for her to finish, takes a noticeable moment to take in the sight, but doesn’t say anything about the outfit, the only reaction she gives being a series of acknowledging nods and a strange smile. She also barely audible mumbles something in Portuguese, Grace opts to interpret as favorable, before they quickly switch places.

 

A suspiciously long amount of time goes by, where Grace almost gets worried and just barely manages to not go investigate what takes her so long. When the Brazilian in turn reappears from the bedroom she is wearing an only slightly formfitting dark black silk shirt, top two buttons undone, with half rolled up sleeve and a slightly curved hem, lightly puckering over a pair of light blue almost grayish skinny jeans. The pants’ legs are rolled up about a hand’s width above the ankle, revealing only modestly heeled green pumps made from a velvety material, with a minimal plateau, a concession to their overall form and the shape of their tips.

After looking at the outfit for a moment Grace finally sees it, or more so, becomes aware of it, because she has been seeing it the whole time, and for a second forgets to breath. The taller woman has braided on side of her hair into a single weave of hair along the side of her head, disappearing towards her neck, and the remaining hair completely comped over to the other side, forming an undercut. Her long, dark brown hair falling down that side of her face and over her shoulder in loose curls, like a waterfall of hair.

She vaguely remembers seeing something like that when Taina was showing her the memories from the book, but didn’t really pay attention to it. Like on Karaoke Night, she wears only minimal makeup, with eyeliner and a barely noticeable eye shadow being the most prominent features, while the jewelry is pretty much the same as back then as well. Grace wishes she would show this side of herself more often. Not that she is superficial or something, but _Wow_!

 

“Are you ready?” the taller woman’s voice breaks her out of her stare with an amused tone, prompting Grace to almost jump off her chair startled.

 

“Yes. _Yes_! Let’s go.” she replies quickly and grabs her black clutch from counter, fighting off the heat rising on her face.

 

“Should we bring jackets?” Taina asks friendly, throwing her black leather jacket over her forearm.

 

“I don’t think so. The car can drop us off and pick us up quasi on the spot.” the Korean replies after contemplating for second.

 

“Are you going to tell me what we are doing, now?” the other woman asks.

 

“ _Hmm_. No.” Grace hums, taking one last look at her feed, considering stuffing a pair of ballerinas into her clutch for good measure, but then decides to trust in her abilities.

 

* * *

 

When they exit the building, they are awaited by the Uber Grace has called a few minutes ago. The drive is pretty long, and Taina has no clue where they are going, because the other woman did all the instructions in Korean. On the way the modern silvery gray steel and concrete buildings slowly but steadily turn to more dated, but equally impressive steel buildings, adorned with a multitude of colorful neon signs, screens and billboards advertising all sorts of products and services. Noticeably the crowds also turn more colorful, and younger, Taina thinks. They eventually arrive at the corner of a small and street that where entry is blocked by a set of bollards. Although calling this alley a street is a bit of a stretch.

After waving the driver goodbye fare too enthusiastically, the Korean woman links arms with Taina, who shoots her a questioning look, and drags her forward and into the _alley_. Surprisingly the area is filled with lots of people; Couples, advertisers, food stands. The buildings along the way have many windows and doors, sporting colorful posters apparently advertising all sorts of events and festivities. They eventually reach an, in comparison unremarkable, door next to what looks like a small diner. Although the looks must be deceiving, because there is a small line, with a pretty relaxed looking pair of bouncers unhurriedly checking peoples tickets.

When its their turn Grace, who is still holding onto the other woman, hands them two mostly orange and yellow slips of paper, upon which they are granted entry.

Beyond the door is only a small hallway, that looks more like the fire exit of a movie theater than anything. They more or less follow the people ahead of them down a small set of stairs leading them underground; At its end there is what looks like a distinctively Korean ‘perversion’ of a South American dance club. 'So that’s the big surprise' Taina smiles, although also giving Grace’s choice of footwear a slightly worried look, but continues to let the other woman lead on.

After taking a quick look around, she supposes it’s very cozy, and the music is right. Very right actually; Currently they seem to be in a slow phase, as the band, which is entirely comprised of Asian men, sits idly, while the guitarist plays some slow ambient piece _._

But there are also a lot more neon lights than you would expect and apparently the venue also houses a small arcade. Which wouldn’t be something out of the ordinary if it were beer soaked slots and pinballs, instead of that strange dance game and a virtual shooting range. Although she is Brazilian, obviously, the whole atmosphere still makes her feel a strange comfort and easiness that reminds her of better times. The memories strangely don’t make her melancholic though, as a warm and affectionate smile settles on her face.

After showing the slips of paper again, they are lead to a small booth, that could probably house four people, the waitress removing the small sign indicating the seats have been reserved, before taking their initial order.

 

The pair spends a short while just sitting their, taking occasional sips from their drinks, in strangely awkward silence, as Taina, who took the seat facing the dance floor watches the and play, as only small groups of people dare to actually dance.

 

“So, that’s the big surprise, _Huh_?” Taina eventually says with a smile.

 

“Do you like it?” the Korean replies hesitantly and takes a quick look around.

 

“It’s… something.” the taller woman replies with light chuckle and reaches over to affirmingly squeeze Grace’s hand. “I like it.”

 

“Oh, good.” the shorter woman finally breaths, and the slight tension eases again.

 

Taina doesn’t want to push her, and is rather curious how fare Grace would be willing to go with this, so they spend a long while just watching other people dance. The Korean asks the occasional question, and listens with an entirely infatuated expression as the other woman talks about dancing, and what she likes about the different Latin dance.

 

“Do you want to dance?” Grace suddenly asks halfway through their second drink. Taina doesn’t look particularly surprised, but her expression also lightens up somehow.

 

“I didn’t know you could.” She states intrigued.

 

“I took a few lessons during the last weeks.” Grace concedes proudly. “And you could always show me.” She adds with a bold expression.

 

“Is that so?” Taina replies with a smirk. To the other woman’s great satisfaction, she seems very comfortable with all this. The Korean doesn’t reply, but rather jumps off her seat, and offers her her hand with one of those wide and friendly smiles, that the taller woman missed very much during their strange _adjustment period._

 

 

As soon as the taller woman’s hand touches down on her waist, most of Grace’s confidence vanishes, as her eyes are repeatedly drawn to the Brazilian’s face, and the gentle, loving eyes looking back at her expectantly, as she holds out her other hand for Grace to take it.

 

“If you took a course, you know the basics, right?” Taina inquires friendly, not the slightest hint of impatience in her voice. Grace nods at that, although nervously looking down at their feet.

 

“Is it okay if I lead?” the taller woman asks.

 

“Yeah.” the Korean woman replies with a hesitant, but happy smile. “Do you mind counting for now?” she adds, as Taina gently brings her hand up closely under her shoulder and slightly extends her other arm to create a little more space between them.

 

“ _One. Two. Three. Four. Fith_ ….” Taina begins, and they slowly start moving. The first few iteration they bump feet at least a few times, before Grace finds her rhythm. At first she fears people might take offense in her ineptitude, but the music is picking up, and large portion of the people seem to be as much beginners as she is. She also was afraid that the stilettos might present a problem, because they are not exactly dancing shoes, and she has to constantly remind herself, that she’s trained to full on run in these things if necessary. Although it takes at least a little bit of concentration to keep focused while their faces are only inches away from each other every other turn, and all she can think of to begin with, is how she wants nothing but to kiss Taina.

And oh God, are the Brazilian’s movements _something_. The rhythmic sway of her hips with every step; The energy and fluidity she lightly pulls her along with her own movement, while gently holding contact without forcing Grace’s movements. She feels ridiculously clumsy in comparison, but also somehow has no other choice but look into her eyes. Beautiful, in the half darkness of the dance floor anthracite eyes, looking back at her with that soft fondness, but also vibrant and inviting like the music.

 

When the music slows down and becomes ambient again, Grace suddenly feels strangely out of place; Like everyone is watching them. And although a quick look around confirms there is nothing of the sorts happening, instead of relishing the moment a bit longer, she quickly untangles herself from the Brazilian and speedily drags her across the dance floor and back to their booth by her hand.

 

“Is everything alright?” Taina inquires cautiously when they are sitting opposite each other again.

 

“ _Uh_ , yes.” the Korean replies with a slight blush on her face. “That was really nice.” She adds with a smile; It really was; Even considering the tangle of feelings inside her.

 

Still seeing her visible discomfort the other woman gently reaches out on the table, offering Grace her hand for comfort again.

 

“We don’t have to go again if you don’t want to.” she adds sympathetically, as the smaller woman gratefully interlaces their fingers.

 

“No, no, no. I want to.” she replies with a much brighter smile and softly rubs Taina’s palm with her thumb for emphasis.

 

“You _did_ really well.” the brunette offers, not taking her eyes off her. There is a real possibility she could have just said that to sooth her, but Grace nonetheless starts to beam with pride.

 

After a while of amicable silence they spend simply looking at each other, they order another round of drinks. The Korean hasn’t failed to notice the fact the other woman hasn’t really shown much interest in her drink during the course of the last hour until the waitress eventually clears away the stale remnants. Something that somehow fills her with an unexpected satisfaction and relief. She doesn’t think she is an alcoholic or something, but her alcohol consumption always seems tied to her emotional well being; So Grace definitely marks it down as a win.

They spend about an hour just sitting there and talking. Like, really talking, not monologuing at each other, or making situational small talk like they would usually do, something they haven’t really done in that fashion since her, in hindsight completely unnecessary, disagreement with Yumiko.

So Grace learns the whole story about Taina’s brothers and some, although highly selective details about her time on the street. For a short time she feels very sad about it all, but the brunette ensures her, that albeit not a pleasant experience, it made her who she is now, and wouldn’t have it any other was. If not for the fact that she wouldn’t have met either of them without it. A sentiment that makes Grace’s whole body burn with infatuation.

In turn Grace tells her more about her relationship with her parents, and stories of Seoya interfering with her love life in the toothrottingly cutest ways, when she was little. But also how Ji-Hun, who she knows since middle school after beating up a bully, helped her pass her first psych eval by getting her the guidelines and assessment criteria from his dad, who worked in the field at the time. Encouraged by the story, Taina reluctantly shares that the psychologist who was to evaluate her after Mariana’s death only cleared her, because he was pressured to do so, and if she was honest, she probably wasn’t fit for service for about a year after. The resulting extremely violent albeit just lawful behavior only reinforcing her negative reputation, which had been largely build on gossip and ignorance at this point.

After the quite intimate exchange they spend a short while mostly silent, again only quietly looking at each other and watching the others dance, and although there is a hint of gloominess, still holding hands. But then a song comes on that Taina seems to particularly like, and so without hesitation she offers Grace her hand, which she gladly takes, almost enthusiastically striding towards the dance floor; Thankful for the change of atmosphere, and full of anticipation.

As Grace’s confidence rises more and more during their second dance, she loosens up noticeable, completely melting into the other woman’s gaze, their motions becoming more and more fluid, as routine settles in their dance again. The counting is long gone; And as the songs go by, their movements become bolder than the first time; Grace becomes more dynamic, practically challenging Taina with more and more sweeping steps and turns, and the Brazilian in turn picks up the pace, from time to time whirling her around in small pirouettes and bringing the Korean’s back against her front, their arms looped around the smaller woman’s body, their faces close together, as Grace leans into her, while their bodies grind against each other to the rhythm of the music, before the smaller woman is spun away again, and the routine begins anew.

When the music finally drops back to a calm guitar piece, they are in a tight embrace, their bodies entwined, their surroundings faded to a blur. For a moment the pair stays like this, motionless pressed together in the same way they were dancing just seconds before. As the dance floor slowly starts to clear, people sharing a similar closeness, or chatting away on their way back to their seats, Grace slowly turns her head to look up at the other woman’s face.

 

“You look beautiful.” the Brazilian establishes, her voice enamored and full of affection.

 

When their gazes meat, they can already feel each other’s breath, so the Korean wants to reach up to close the distance again, but then Taina in turn leans down her shoulder, bringing their lips together in a gentle kiss.

 

“I can’t take this anymore.” Grace announces with an exhale, after suddenly breaking the kiss, but nonetheless holds the Brazilian’s gaze for another moment, before hastily breaking them apart. Not entirely though, since Taina suddenly finds herself dragged along by hand in the wake of the smaller woman practically storming across the dance floor in the general direction of the ladies’ room. There is a sort of fierce determination in her movement, dead straight heading for her destination with large steps and continuously increasing speed, until they are almost jogging.

 

The loud bang of the bathroom door hitting the wall as it flies open, pushed by Grace, startles two women standing in front of the mirror apparently touching up on their makeup. Taina can’t help but give them an apologetic look as they practically flee the scene. Grace apparently doesn’t care, and instead probes the bathroom stalls for occupants, before a moment later pulling the taller woman into the first available stall.

Although it quickly becomes clear where this is heading, Taina at first gives the Korean a puzzled look. But Grace tugs her closer by the collar of her shirt, and spins them around, reaching behind her to lock the door of stall behind her, before throwing her weight into the taller woman’s body, pressing her against the wall of stall, and with one last look into her eyes is suddenly all over her. The Brazilian isn’t idle either, as soon as the shorter woman’s hands start tugging and gripping into the fabric of her blouse, surging forward and eagerly pressing their lips together. The feeling of Grace’s lips against her own grows more intense by the second. Her tongue only passes Taina’s lower lip once, before the kiss inadvertently deepens, and the Brazilian’s hands find their way up the brim of the crop top and to the outer edges of the newly bought lingerie. A shiver runs down the Korean’s spine at the thought that the strapless piece of fabric could be easily pulled down without her being able to do anything about it, and some part of her wishes she would just do it.

 

“Wait.” Grace suddenly pulls away, creating a noticeable amount of space between their bodies again. “There is something I need to ask you first.” she announces breathlessly.

 

“And what would that be?” Taina replies with a slightly frustrated tone in her voice, her fingers still tugging at the edges of the other woman’s top.

 

“Will you be my girlfriend?” the Korean asks solemnly, with an honest smile, almost looking back at the taller woman reluctantly, like there was still doubt what her answer might be.

 

“Yes. I will be your girlfriend.” Taina replies, with a serious expression, holding the other woman’s gaze for a few seconds, and a wide smile forms on Grace’s face, radiating with happiness. When she without another word closes the distance again, the taller woman flips them around in the spot, now in turn pressing the shorter woman’s body against the wall of the stall, and starts to feel her way up her _girlfriend’s_ top, her mouth pressed against edge of the Korean’s jaw, prompting her to tilt her head to allow her better access, and eliciting a quiet moan.

 

Grace is halfway through unbuttoning the other woman’s shirt, no small part of her weight already resting on the taller woman’s leg rather than her own, when their foreplay is suddenly interrupted by a large group of women pouring into the ladies’ room, loudly snickering and chatting. When someone, probably drunkenly, rattles at the door handle the third time in about thirty seconds, the Korean clears her throat, and makes it clear the stall is taken, bringing up her index finger too her lips shortly after. Taina locks eyes with her with an intense gaze, then smiles at her mischievously, before proceeding with what she has been doing, and it suddenly dawns on Grace she is completely fucked. Not Literally. _Yet_. But still. After a painfully long period of time, in which the Korean at first fights back, but then quickly has to concede to the fact, that their difference in height, weight, and the position they are in makes it pretty much impossible for her to escape– Not that she really wants to. –and in the end is spending most of her energy on suppressing all the various moans, gasps and other noises that try to escape her while her _girlfriend_ is having her way with her, the intruders, who might as all have completely changed over the course of the last minutes, eventually dissipate.

 

“I changed my mind.” she announces, almost buried under a significantly more intense moan. “Lets go home.”

 

“Are you sure?” Taina smiles into the surface of the crook of Grace’s neck and slides her hand farther under the waistband of her jeans, making her inhale sharply accompanied by a strange giggly noise. Apparently she has no intention to release her right now.

 

“Y… Yes. _Fuck_.” Grace stammers, almost faltering under the taller woman’s touch. “Common.” She pleads again. Although she wants to do anything _but_ leave.

 

“Okay.” Taina eventually replies, and lets go of her, but not without shoving her leg against the surface of the shorter woman’s crotch one last time.

 

* * *

 

 

The next half an hour goes by in a blur.

 

When they finally come storming up the stairs and out of the door, cloths mostly in place, one of _the white cars_ is parked at the next corner, just around the block. When they reach it, the driver is a woman, about their age. Grace seems to know her personally. Taina doesn’t understand much, but the Korean women spend a short amount of time bickering about something as they take the backseat, but then they apparently settle their dispute. The only word the Brazilian clearly understands is ‘Lieutenant’. During the drive her Korean girlfriend is noticeably less handsy than before, and they simply hold hands in the middle of the backseat, spending the drive back to Grace’s apartment in silence, only gently playing with each other’s fingers from time to time.

 

They barely make it up the elevator, and only keep their hands off each other, after Grace vehemently insists she is in no mood to spend the next morning wiping clean all the security footage for the building.

 

When they burst through the apartment door there might as well be a general assembly of Six’s staff be underway in the living room. They wouldn’t notice. It’s a dance, not unlike just an hour ago, they twist and turn and orbit each other in a tangle of touches and articles of clothing being thrown around. The slouchy has to go first. The glasses almost share it’s fate, but when Grace casually wipes them off her face, Taina quickly takes them from her, and sets them down on the small drawer in the hallway, while unbuttoning her shirt with her free hand while also struggling to keep their lips touching.

As they reach the edge of the bedroom, holding onto each other quasi inseparably, stumbling forward towards the edge of the bed, cobalt and black the last obstacle to overcome. With a confident movement Taina turns them, so Grace’s back is facing the bed, and brings her down on the mattress with a light shove, the shorter woman touching down on the surface with a giggle. As the taller woman intensely looks down at her, Grace takes a moment to admire the sight; Taina’s body is muscular, but not as toned and wiry as her own; Soft, lightly tanned skin nestling over her strong physique, only interrupted by the bullet scar, enthroned on her lower body, just above the waistband of the black lace boyshorts.

As Grace’s eyes slowly wander upwards, intent on committing every small detail to memory the best she can, Taina already reaches behind her back undoing her bra, as one of her knees settles on the mattress too.

Grace has obviously seen her naked, but the sight of the natural curves of her breasts, slightly spilling from the restraints makes her gasp, almost in disbelief this is really happening. Her gaze inevitably wanders upwards, past sharp collarbones and strong shoulders, eventually meeting the soft eyes, equally eagerly looking back at her from that perfect face. She thinks she should be more focused on the hotness; The eager lust pulling them together. Yet, all she can think of are three word she isn’t brave enough to say.

But then it finally gets her, the burning sensation all over and through her body, and she quickly reaches behind her back to undo the bralette. Her breasts aren’t much to speak of, at least that’s what she thinks, and she is somewhat self-conscious about it following some of her experiences in the past. In her short worry, she somehow barely notices the taller woman crawling onto the bed, and settling between her legs, hovering above her body, and when she looks up again, her lips are already met by the other woman’s. Their faces pressed together, kissing each other with a hint of desperation and urgency; The tension at long last about to be released.

 

“It’s been a while.” Grace meekly apologizes in advance, when Taina pulls back for a moment and their eyes met at the short distance. Taina doesn’t reply anything and there is only affection in her expression as she only lightly shakes her head with a soft smile, before making her downwards with a series of intense kisses, wandering form her lips, across the edge of her jaw, over her neck and collarbone, almost very single one forcing out at least a small sigh. When Taina’s mouth finally touches down on one of her breasts, Grace’s head eventually bobs back with an audible moan. The taller woman alternating between sucking and playing with the nipple with her tongue, while her hand gently caresses the other one, as Grace, desperate for something to hold on already, runs her hand through Taina’s hair, soft shivers running through her.

 

“ _Please_.” she implores her with a sharp gasp when she can’t take it anymore.

 

At this word Taina stops what she is doing, and looks up at the woman chewing her lower lip in arousal, with what Grace hopes is an amused expression, before lowering her head to the surface of her belly. The Brazilian lets her thumb slide through and over the form of her folds through the thin, already damp, fabric of Grace’s underwear, before her fingers easily hook under the waistband of the panties, and with a bit help from Grace quickly pull it down and off her leg, before discarding them entirely with a flick of her other leg.

Somehow Grace’s first impulse is to cover herself up again, but is stopped when the brunette’s fingers run through the neatly trimmed quad of raven hair, gently pressing down onto the surface of her pubic mount, almost teasingly, before settling on the insides of her thighs, just barely not touching her, as Grace feels almost dizzy with anticipation.

The smaller woman can’t suppress a quiet moan, when Taina’s mouth, after a last kiss to the lowest part of her belly, finally settles on her center. After a short moment of just resting there, the Brazilian starts slowly moving her tongue, at first almost playing with her clit, repeatedly sliding over and kissing the delicate and tender spot.

She stays there for a while, concentrating all her attention, moving slowly then escalating, over and over again, as Grace gasps and moans, her hips slightly bucking, her arms restlessly moving up and across the headboard, unable to stay still. She is almost there already, when Taina purposefully slows down, now only slowly running her tongue through the soft folds of skin. It doesn’t really change anything, but it keeps the shorter woman in her grasp at edge.

Grace can’t help but invoke god when the Brazilian suddenly enters her, followed by a loud sound of approval, an unintelligible mix of ‘yes!’, ‘ _Ah!_ ’ and a moan. It doesn’t take a lot of thrusting, and when Taina adds a second finger and her mouth touches down on the soft skin at her core again, she can practically feel Grace finally, violently tumble over the edge, almost taking her into headlock, as she squeezes her tights together in ecstasy.

She endures it though, her face motionlessly resting on her center, her fingers not stopping right away, but steadily slowing down, until they only linger at the entrance, and the trembles of aftershock pass, leaving Grace completely silent, the only sign of life heavy breathing and the occasional tremor through the lower half of her body.

 

When Grace has calmed a bit, Taina cautiously crawls forward, with soft kisses making her way up the other woman’s body again.

 

Their faces are almost the same level again, when Grace says something in Korean she can’t really decipher, but then brings her hand up to cover her mouth, as large parts of her body are still covered in a soft shade of pink.

 

“That.. I… That was amazing.” she announces, still slightly out of breath. “But...” she adds sheepishly, as an apologetic expression forms on her face, prompting the other woman to bring her hands up to cup her face and press a gentle kiss to lips to shut her up.

 

“It’s okay.” she says and kisses her again, this time more passionate, followed by a number of small pecks.

 

“No.” Grace protests with a pout.

 

A loud sigh escapes the Brazilian’s face, but is followed by a quiet giggle. “Come here.” she instructs, and rolls of Grace and to the side, leading her to get on top of her, like she would during one her naps, simultaneously getting rid of her panties by pulling her legs towards her torso and simply sliding them off. As Grace on top of her body, she reaches behind the smaller woman’s head, and pulls her down into a kiss, that lasts long, and eases much of the tension that started to form in to Korean’s body, before taking Grace’s hand gently places it between her own legs.

Quickly after the other woman starts her slightly clumsy routine, the Brazilian pulls their faces together again, mixing the pleasure of Grace’s touch with intense, deep kisses.

Taina’s orgasm isn’t loud or violent, but rather a lot of tension releasing at once. As Grace goes on she grows almost stiff, her extremities tighten, and the kissing noticeable slowing down, until she completely stops; A sharp gasp followed by a deep exhale being the only audible indication that she is there. A second later the tension in her body is gone.

Grace looks at her worriedly, as the taller woman takes a few deep breaths, but her anxiety is quickly soothed when Taina starts kissing her again. “See? That was great.” She smiles into the surface of her girlfriend’s face, picking up her hand and pressing a gentle kiss to her knuckles.

 

They spend a moment in silence, Grace still resting on top of the other woman, her head comfortable on her collarbone, hands inculpable resting on her chest, legs entangled. They wordless study each other’s face; Trading loving expressions and enamored looks. Moments become minutes. Minutes grow longer. Eventually Grace gets cold and pulls the cover over them. Just for a moment she thinks, but then tiredness slowly overcomes her. The realization, that this is real, settling on her mind. Taina might have opted to take a shower, but can’t bring herself to disturb the peace and quiet, only resting there, watching the other woman slowly fall asleep like many times before.

 

Grace breaths out a last loud sigh, before finally falling asleep for real.

 

“I love you.” she mumbles under a breath.

 


	14. What Is Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small character chapter for fun. As usual you can ignore these if you want. I cut a large part of him, but did want to give him his due. :) Have a nice weekend everyone!

_“The 90s called, they want their Asian stereotype back.” the young soldier quips with a happy expression on her face, at the sight of her best friend, sporting his usually short spiky hair and some ridiculous matrix-esque sunglasses, while playing with an unlit cigarette._

 

_“Says the woman with the pixie cut and the comically large glasses.” The man replies with an impish grin on his face, and gets off of the edge of the small wall he has been sitting on._

 

_“I missed you, Asshole.” She establishes, and encloses him in a tight hug._

 

_“I missed you, too, Gremlin.” He returns her greeting and winds himself out of her hold. “How is training coming along?”_

 

_“Have you ever been stuck in a room full of people who had nothing on you, but still got to order you around?” Grace replies half serious, and smiles at him._

 

_“You are aware I already went through basic training, right?” he comments snidely, and fishes a lighter out of the pocket of his uniform, prompting the woman to quickly grab the cigarette already in his mouth, and throw it away over her shoulder._

 

_“Hey, these are expensive!” He whines and drops the lighter back into his pocket._

 

_“Then better not waste any more of them.” Grace shrugs. “I’d prefer to have you around as long as possible.” A moment goes by with them quietly strolling along towards the restaurant the woman chose for their lunch ‘date’._

 

_“How’s your mom?” the young man inquires casually after few steps._

 

_“A lot better actually. She sort of flourished again, since we babysit Seoya.” his old friend replies. “And not having to see you anymore also helps.” she adds with a grin._

 

_“Pfff, your mom loves me. If she had her way we would have got married right out of high school.” he jokes. He enjoyed hanging around at their place, even before they were dirty rich. Back when they just were the almost completely normal family of that feisty girl that always dragged him into all her mischief for some reason. “By the way, how is the cutest nurse in the whole army?” He inquires cheerfully._

 

_“We, Uh, broke up.” Grace replies sheepishly, an unreadable expression on her face._

 

_“What happened, I thought she was so ridiculously amazing, you thought you would never introduce us, just to be save.” he quips, trying to lift his friend’s spirit again._

 

_“Seoya didn’t like her.” she establishes in a very serious tone. A warning for him to not mock the fact that these are her priorities._

 

_“So, what I’m hearing is, the most amazing nurse in the army is single again?” Ji-Hun deadpans, and receives a fist to his shoulder, prompting him to slightly stumble away from her._

 

_“You need to work on your anger issues.” he comments good-naturedly, and pulls her in a half hug. “Besides...” he begins._

 

_“If your next sentence involves fish in the sea or people named Jill, I swear to god I’m going to choke you out right where you stand.” the woman cuts him off._

 

_“See!” he quips and squeezes her one last time, before letting go of her again. His hand subconsciously reaches towards his jacket pocket but then he thinks better of it, in no small part because of the look he can see Grace give him from the corner of his eye, and just tabs the surface of the pocket to check the pack was still there._

_Just as they arrive at the door of establishment, the sound of the woman’s phone vibrating can be heard, and she quickly pulls the small black flip phone out of her pocket._

 

_“Fuck.” She exclaims. “My leave got ‘canceled’.” She adds, not very reassuringly making air quotes._

 

_“What did you do?” Ji-Hun asked with a sort of routine incredulity._

 

_“Can you go pick up Seo-Yeon from school alone? I kind of promised her you would be there.” the woman asks hastily, completely ignoring his question._

 

_“No problem.” he replies evenly, and immediately is pulled into another hug._

 

_“Thank you!” the woman replies relieved and quickly turns to leave him standing there._

 

_“They are never going to give you a commission if you keep doing that!” her friend calls after the woman practically sprinting down the sidewalk as fast as possible in her dark green skirt and black pumps, only raising her arm in the air waving back it him over her back._

 

* * *

 

_“Why aren’t you Eun-Hye’s boyfriend?” the girl’s small voice inquires seriously, as they stroll down the street leading from the bus stop to where Seo-Yeon’s parents are living, the man carrying his little friend’s satchel over his shoulder. The question almost makes him choke on his own saliva._

 

_“Why would you ask that?” he counter questions, as the pair stops in their tracks, and he hunkers down to get to her eye level._

 

_“I like you.” She says solemnly, as if this fact would explain every single question he might have. The impromptu reply forcing a short laugh out of him. “And you like Eun-Hye. Don’t you?” She adds with fierce determination._

 

_When his laughter dies down, he simply affectionately ruffles her short hair with his hand, while taking a short moment to muse over her question and how to best reply to it, pointedly tapping his mouth with his index finger._

 

_“You know your daddy loves your mommy?” he begins friendly, holding her demanding gaze. The girl only quickly nods._

 

_“And you love your sister?” he follows up. The girl only hums in acknowledgment, now giving him a questioning look._

 

_“But you understand both are different?” he asks._

 

_“Hmmm, yes, I guess.” she replies._

 

_“I love Eun-Hye.” He announces, still in the same friendly tone, prompting the girls expression to light up. “But not like your daddy loves your mommy.” he clarifies, and her face slightly returns to its questioning look._

 

_“We know each other longer than you are alive. And she is very important to me.“ he explains, still not taking his eyes off of her. “But I don’t like her like that. That’s why I’m not her boyfriend. I’m just her friend.”_

 

_“But...” the girl begins to protest, apparently not entirely convinced of the concept._

 

_“I know you want your sister to be happy.” he implores sympathetically, and squeezes her face in between his hands until she can't help but giggle happily. “_

 

_I heard you scared off that other woman. What was wrong with her?”_

 

_“She was mean to Eun-Hye!” the girl informs him with a stern expression on her face._

 

_“Nice.” he comments and pads her head again. “Don’t worry. The right person will come along eventually.” he reasons and offers another genuine smile._

 

_“Okay.” the girl concedes meekly, prompting the man to enclose her in a tight hug._

 

_“Lets get you some ice cream.”_

 

_“But Eun-Hye said you are not allowed to buy me ice cream.”_

 

_“I’m not telling her if you don’t.” Ji-Hun grins._


	15. ARTWORK I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something completely different for you guys. Actually wanted to do that for a while. So here is my sad try at mixing my own style with TBChoi's. Turned Okay, I'm not entirely satisfied with Caveira's face and the overall proportions to some degree. But unfortunately I don't have the time at hand to fix it (manually or digitally). So you'll have to live with it.  
> I refrained from watermarking it. mostly because I don't really care that much. Would still be great if it didn't immediately showed up in all the usual places.
> 
> Hope you are not too bummed out there is no actual chapter.
> 
> Tools: Because I'm a complete heathen just a B strength pencil.


	16. Happy Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another fluffy interlude to round off the date. Sorry for the late update. Things' still not that great, but I'm getting there again.

Driven by her circadian rhythm and the fact that, despite the previous days events, she is pretty well rested, Taina wakes in the early hours of the mourning. It’s not quiet spring yet, so the sky outside the large window is still colored in dark shades of midnight and the faint traces of silver of an outgoing new moon.

Since Grace is still quietly sleeping on top of her, the Brazilian just quietly lies there, watching the other woman in her sleep. The inaudible whistling of her breathing almost drowned out by the distant sounds of the awaking city. A few strains of hair cover the shorter woman’s face, the rest is sprawled over her shoulders and around her neck. It never occurred to her how long Grace’s hair actually is if it’s not into braids or otherwise arranged into layers and curled. A smile flashes over the Brazilian woman’s face at the glimpse of the many ear piercings her _girlfriend_ has that practically no one ever sees. It’s one of the many smaller and bigger things, that serve as a reminder that there is in many regards more to her, than visible on first sight.

After musing over the thought, Taina carefully brings up her hand to the shorter woman’s face and brushes the strain of hair out of it, to get a better look at it. She would have never thought a moment like this would come again; When someone else’ presence at her side wouldn’t server as a painful reminder of the past, and for the first time since that fateful day, the past feels like the past. Like there isn’t only a _before_ and an _after_ that coincide with all the good and the bad that happened to her, but a _now_ , that’s not really the same, not a perfect reflection of what her life used to be, but something entirely different, that doesn’t need to be compared to the past, and can exist as _good_ in its own right.

She wonders if it is what Mariana had envisioned, when she pleaded for her to move on, and not be hung up on her. Her last thoughts revolving around Taina over anything else: Another short and annoying woman with beautiful almond eyes, coming along, wiggling her way into her life and pestering her with attempts to cheer her up, and get her to leave her shell for once, until she couldn’t bear it anymore and would give in. The thought actually made her smile a melancholic smile; Of course she would get her way in the end. After all, she always did.

The quiet admission, almost an afterthought, considering all that’s been going on, in all honesty she had already expected the other day. It doesn’t really worry her. It’s not really a confession at this point, more a statement of fact. Although she has thought about what she would reply. She supposes Grace knows her well enough to not expect her to say it back right away. But she also knows she would still feel bad, and wonder if her quasi pro forma admission will push the Brazilian away again. The thought prompts her to let out a quiet sigh.

Like during the first night they ‘spend’ together, Grace around dawn apparently grows uncomfortable with the warmth of their bodies and naked skin pressed together, and rolls off of her, nonetheless with an adorable flurry of content noises, and quietly mumbling something in her sleep. But she also pulls the cover with her, conveniently tugging it around herself in the process, leaving the other woman behind naked and by herself. Still, Taina only smiles at the occurrence and lightly shakes her head. She _is_ awake, and now, that their embrace is no more, feels the increased need to take a shower and undo her hair from the evening before. She knows _from experience_ , what ever secret technique the shorter woman employs to register her silent movements doesn’t work in her sleep, so she soundlessly gets up and leaves for the bathroom, pointedly not even closing the bedroom door behind her.

She spends the early hours of the day sitting on the opposite side of the counter, lazily skimming over a book she has already read, and watching Grace in her sleep across the apartment, as the first light of day starts to tint the room in sharp shades of orange, replacing the cool blue of a night in the city.

 

* * *

 

Grace wakes to the tingly sensation of the sun tickling her nose. The first thing on her mind is, she vaguely remembers being awake for a few seconds during the morning and finding the spot next her empty, giving her a little panic attack over the irrational thought the other woman might have changed her mind, or the whole thing was a dream entirely. But when she darts up, flailing her arms in the general direction of the spot the couple had occupied for the first half of the night, her arms are immediately met with the surface of the other woman’s body, as she unintentionally hits her in the stomach.

 

“ _Ai!_ O que eu fiz?” comes the half amused sound of her girlfriend’s voice, as Grace quickly opens her eyes to check what exactly she just hit.

The taller woman is sitting on the bed next to her, her upper body comfortably resting against the headboard, her bare legs stretched and crossed in front of her, as usual holding a book in her hands and a cup of tea in the nightstand next to her. She wears dark gray cotton running shorts and a large red plaid shirt with rolled up sleeves, and her hair is flying down over her shoulder, tugged behind her ear and shoulder on the side facing Grace, prompting her to wonder when exactly she got dressed and undid it.

 

“I’m _so_ sorry!” the Korean brings her hand to her mouth in slight terror, a worried look on her face.

 

“Good Morning.” Taina replies dryly with an amused expression on her face. There is a casual ease about her reply, that quickly dispels Grace’s concerns, and she leans over, quickly covering the taller woman’s lips with her own. “Good morning!” She breaks away with a happy smile.

 

“Why _am_ I naked and _you_ are not?” she asks a moment later, knitting her eyebrows together and making a big show of peeking under the piece of fabric wrapped around her body.

 

“Because you stole the blanket and I had to get up, so I wouldn’t freeze to death.” Taina retorts and for a moment Grace looks mortified again, seriously worrying about the discomfort she might have cause the other woman.

 

“I woke up early in the morning and didn’t want to wake you.” the Brazilian clarifies with a reassuring expression on her face. “Also I wasn’t exactly sure when Seo-Yeon would return, so I thought it might be a good idea if at least one of us is dressed.” She adds with a smile.

 

“ _That’s_ … actually a good point.” Grace replies meekly, and quickly rolls over to her nightstand, to check the time. It’s only just past nine. Relieve washes over the Korean’s face, and she quickly grabs some hair ties from the small wooden plate holding a bunch of other stuff, and quickly pulls her hair into– admittedly very cute –pigtails, before she slowly gets back into her spot, closely cuddled up to the other woman’s side, noticeable not making any effort to put on her glasses. As she nestles into her body, Taina brings her hand around her back, gently rubbing it, before reaching around her waist and pulling her closer.

Simply enjoying the intimacy for a minute, Grace peeks over into the pages of the book her girlfriend is reading, but not even knowing what it is, can by only reading about two sentences discern its probably really fucking depressing. She impatiently watches her flip another page, before deciding that there are _better uses_ of their alone time, and quickly grabs the reading material from her hand, setting it aside next to the tea mug, as she throws her body over the taller woman’s legs in a fluent motion, now firmly resting her on top of her, and places her forearms on her shoulders and around her neck, gently playing with her hair and making intense eye contact.

 

“You know, I made Ji-Hun swear he won’t bring Seoya back before noon. That’s in almost three hours.” the Korean announces very seriously, as the other woman gives her questioning look. “And I’m _still_ naked under here.” she smiles impishly. “Maybe you can think of a more… worthwhile use of that time?” she adds, demonstratively peeking down into the neckline of the plaid shirt, and leisurely starts grinding her hips on the other woman’s lap. She has always been a quick study– _Obviously_. –And she has seen the other woman in a ‘good’ mood before, but not like this. Not in this unreservedly lighthearted way. It gives her this strange kind of confidence she can’t remember the last time she felt when it comes to this kind of things.

 

“For example?” Taina replies, maintaining an almost completely serious expression, limply resting her arms at her sides.

 

“I don’t know...” The shorter woman presses a kiss to her lips and grabs one of her hands, placing it on her own ass, while undoing to top most button of the Brazilian’s shirt with the other, before switching hands and repeating the action. “But did I ever tell you, I still fit into my school uniform from senior year?” she moves down from the under the Brazilian’s ear to the bend of her neck. “So if _this_ isn’t enough incentive...”

 

* * *

 

When Seo-Yeon absentmindedly pushes the door open, still giggling about what Ji-Hun has said, and turns towards inside of the apartment, she is met with the strange image of her new friends body coming hovering into the hallway from the bathroom, accompanied by what she can only assume is a Portuguese yelp. Her hair is still wet and the composition of comfortable clothes is dressed in looks more like she is about to lose them instead of just having put them on. Before the girl can process the image, the figure of her sister comes into view, making some sense of the scene. The shorter woman apparently picked up Brazilian and is now carrying her towards the living room; Even though she seems to protest, her legs are nonetheless slung around Grace’s body.

 

“Told you so!” the Korean woman smiles as they enter the hallway, and even casually pulls the bathroom door closed with her foot, before apparently starting to carry her girlfriend over to the couch, in the process bringing the newly arrived pair into the other woman’s view over her back. Taina’s eyes go wide with surprise and slight horror as she meets the girl’s and Ji-Hun’s eyes. Both of them looking at the couple with wide grins on their faces. She tries to bring their presence to Grace’s attention, but is ignored, and when the other woman touches them down on the surface of the couch the impact of the Korean’s body on her own briefly squeezes the air out of Taina’s lungs, so she even manages to snake her hands under the taller woman’s shirt again, before she is eventually interrupted by the Korean man pointedly clearing his throat. Completely taken by surprise his old friend untangles herself from her girlfriend and jumps off the couch with a mortified expression on her face.

 

“Pay up.” Seo-Yeon demands with a grin and holds out her hand towards Ji-Hun, who reaches into his shirt pocket and good-naturedly slaps a fifty thousand Won bill into her hand.

 

“You are early!” Grace states accusatory as Taina gets up next to her and straightens out her clothes again.

 

“Only half an hour.” Ji-Hun replies unfazed and shrugs. “You should really work on you time management.”

 

“Fuck you too.” the woman replies, but her expression turns into a happy grin. “Coffee?” She adds, as Taina loosely braids her hair into her signature plait in the background, and gestures for them to come in. “We actually didn’t ate breakfast yet.”

Another fifty thousand Won change possession, before the girl places a bag of pastry on the kitchen counter with a self-congratulatory smile.

 

“So, how did the date go?” Seo-Yeon inquires with the most innocent expression on her face and flutters her eyelashes at the women, prompting the Brazilian to roll her eyes at the girl, before proceeding with giving Ji-Hun a subtle death glare, from where is now sitting at the counter. The man, as the other day, simply ignores the look she is shooting him, and casually slumps down into the seat opposite of her.

 

“Nice to finally meet you.” He says friendly and offers an astute smile. “I’m Ji-Hun by the way.”

 

The woman inhales sharply before proforma introducing herself too. “I’m Taina.”

 

“The date did go very well.” Grace interjects friendly, hastily placing mugs in front of them to hopefully dissolve some of the tension. “As did everything else. And that’s all the two of you get to know about that.” she establishes with an impish smile on her face, but then in turn shoots her friend a death glare as a warning, as she takes her seat next to the taller woman, gently reaching out and soothingly drawing small circles on her back with her fingers, before folding her hands around the coffee mug.

 

“What have you guys been doing? Let me guess, poisoning my little sister with stories of your exploits among womanhood.” the Korean woman smiles at the man, looking between him and her sister.

 

“I stomped him in Monopoly, then we ate ice cream for dinner and watched OGN until Ji-Hun fell asleep.” Seo-Yeon replies and receives a light hit the back of her head, prompting her head to bob forward accompanied by a light giggle. Apparently that’s not the story they had agreed on. “Also, his girlfriend is very nice.” she adds, not even a little bit sorry for spilling the secret. The man’s face quickly turns into a strange grimace, before returning to his usual, confident expression. Only considerably less confident than before.

 

“How do I not know about this _girlfriend_ of yours?” Grace inquires playfully knitting her eyebrows together. “Are you keeping secrets from me?”

“That’s exactly why you weren’t supposed to tell her.” Ji-Hun groans at her remark, and for a moment buries his face in his hand, scratching his forehead and massaging his temples.

 

“We have been going out like three times. She came by to pick up her phone I fixed for her. Nothing serious.” He explains, but Grace face lights up with delight.

 

“Three times? Like, in multiple occasions? Don’t tell me you haven’t slept with her yet!” the woman teases. The way his face contorts in discomfort even makes Taina’s expression turn slightly apologetic.

 

“Listen, I don’t want to talk about it. But I promise you will be the first to know if there is something to tell.” He bargains, and reluctantly eyes the Brazilian, practically pleading for her to help him.

 

“At least tell me her name and how you met her. You can’t leave me in the dark like that. I might actually die of curiosity.” Grace replies making a face.

 

“Her name is Hye-Jin. She used to work at the convenient store down the street from where I live. That’s where I know her from. But we met again like a month ago by coincidence. We always had good chemistry, so I asked her out. Happy?” he offers, visibly hoping she would let him off the hook now.

 

“For now.” his friend replies in feigned seriousness. “But if I find out you have been like crushing on her for months while she worked at the store, you are in for a ride.” She teases. “I’m also expecting to meet her as soon as possible.” a moment goes by in silence, as the obvious idea starts to form on Grace’s mind.

 

“No.” He quickly interjects, seeing the expression forming on the Korean woman’s face. “No. No. No. That’s… No.”

 

“Oh, come on. How bad could it be? Apparently she already has Seoya’s approval. Doesn’t have to be a fancy restaurant or something. We leave next Thursday, just pick a date and a location. I’m inviting you. And we can bring Seoya if you don’t want it to be a double date or something.” she reasons and actually pouts at him. “Please, I don’t know when I’ll be back the next time.” she even pulls at his heartstrings. Taina raises an eyebrow at the fact that her opinion apparently has been decided for her, but supposes she would have agreed in the end anyway. Much like she suspects he is about to.

 

“Okay. I’m going to ask her. But I’m not promising anything.” He concedes pinching the bridge of his nose. “And you, _traitor_ , you are lucky I know you since you were this tall.” Ji-Hun adds, lightly shoving the girl next to him.

 

The rest of the ‘morning’ goes by uneventful. They spend breakfast recounting stories of Grace being Grace; Defending her friends and beating up bullies. But also how she was completely oblivious the first time a girl had been into her, just because of the way she would view quite intense physical intimacy as completely normal, prompting the Korean to briefly assume a crimson color, because that kind of story is not among the topics she is very eager to talk about. The more Seo-Yeon and Ji-Hun visibly enjoy embarrassing her with it.

 

When Ji-Hun leaves about two hours later, Taina warmed up to him at least a little bit, and even understands why they are friends; If she didn’t know better, she would say he is completely oblivious about the all the quirks and slight follies of the shorter woman. Either way he somehow accepts all of it, speaking off all the ‘adventures’ they obviously had together with nothing but endearment.

 

* * *

 

“Are we going to do anything else today?” Taina asks nonchalantly after they have been hanging out in the kitchen for a little while longer.

 

“Well, we need to go grocery shopping once _we_ figured out what to have for dinner with Mom. And I thought we could go for a walk? Enjoy the nice weather and stuff. I actually miss home sometimes.” the other woman establishes with genuinely sad expression.

 

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” The Brazilian asks empathetically. “I would have liked that very much.” She adds reassuringly and pulls Grace into a small hug around her waist. “Lets just go. The dishes will have to wait.”

 

“Do you want me to stay… or?” the girl asks neutrally, not giving any indication she would feel the least bit excluded if they did.

 

“No. You have to come too.” her sister quickly demands.

 

* * *

 

A good three hours later the three women are sitting on one of the benches in the small park adjacent to Grace’s building. The Korean woman flanked on both sides, although both the sisters are more or less cuddling into the Brazilian’s side. The sun is already pretty low, even though the days become increasingly longer during this time of the year, and the temperature starts to considerably drop by the minute.

 

“You said you knew exactly how I feel.” Seo-Yeon establishes matter-of-factly, prompting her sister to clear her through. “How did you mean that?” she goes on unfazed, and Grace digs her nails into her arm signaling her to let it go. “ _Ouch!_ ” the girl exclaims, an agitated expression on her face. “Let it go.” Grace whispers, as the taller woman hasn’t answered her yet.

 

“It’s alright.” Taina reassures after a moment of silence. “I don’t mind.”

 

“After my father died…we were dirt poor then. My mother and I were never on the best terms… for various reasons. But when I was about your age, she expected me to, well, get married or at least try to, you know…”

 

“Oh.. _Uh_ … I see.” The girl interjects meekly.

 

“Things got really heated. My oldest brothers were already in prison, and my mother knew I had just not been caught yet. It’s not that I didn’t understand her, but getting married, well in the sense she had in mind, was of the table as far as I was concerned. But unfortunately we were _good Catholics_ , so she had a completely different take on that. We clashed a few times, things were said. In the end I told her if I was so much of a burden and a disappointment, maybe she would be better of without me. That night I ran away. Tramped up the coast and ended up in Rio. And that’s all there is to that.” She recounts nonchalantly, only the smallest amount of bitterness in her voice. Grace who already knows more details than she in hindsight wants to, hopes Seo-Yeon leaves it at that.

 

“Thank you for being there for me then.” the girl replies reluctantly. “I can’t imagine...”

 

“It’s quite alright.” the Brazilian interrupts her. “After all I met you two because of it.” she offers a half forced smile.

 

“Do you think your mom likes the Moqueca I made the other day? I can make a more fancy variant of it and make a few other things to go with it.” Taina changes the subject shortly after.

 

“That was really good.” Seo-Yeon replies happily.

 

“But I can also make something like that with chicken, if you’d like that more.” The woman adds.

 

“No, I really liked that too.” The shorter woman chimes in. “Let’s go shopping for ingredients. And then some fast food. I’m starving.”

 

 

 

 

 


	17. Emily

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a doozy of a shit week (read YEAR) First my screen died out of the blue, then someone stole my bike, and then I posted this chapter in the wrong fic.... Yeah me!
> 
> Hope you all liked the halloween special though! Have a nice week. I'm trying to get into a more consistent schedule. But there are many parts I want to do to keep the pacing more consistant, and I also didn't want to hard cut the Korea arc
> 
> :D Enjoy!
> 
> PS: It's a series now. Probably gonna post some outtakes and uncalled for smut along the line under it. I'm also thinking about doing either a prequel or sequel after this.

When Grace awakes on Friday morning, they are not spooning anymore, and she has to take a moment to quietly orient herself, because even though the last few days have nothing but a bliss, her first thought still betrays the certainty of the Brazilian’s presence, inflicting her with fear she might be alone. For only a second her heart starts to race, but then she recognizes the fact her head is simply and innocently resting in the other woman’s lap, as the Korean is sprawled out over most the bed’s surface, her arms limply thrown over her legs, and the tension eases immediately.

The soft sound of Taina’s voice vibrates trough their bodies, as she is quietly talking on the phone in Portuguese, her free hand resting on top of Grace’s head, small strokes of her fingertips brushing over her scalp. It should be perfect moment, and in a sense it is, but after cherishing it for only a moment, the shorter woman starts to wonder who she might be talking to; In Portuguese before anything else. And she knows it’s stupid, the blatant insecurity, and constant worry. Or maybe it’s really just her curiosity. Before she can spiral into anything, the conversation ends and Taina hangs up her phone.

 

“Good Morning Querida.” she says warmly, and Grace seriously wonders how she does _that_. Although she supposes it’s only fair, since she haven’t told her how she knew she was there when she sneaked past her all these months ago.

 

“What does that mean, _Querida_?” the Korean asks quietly, letting herself stay in her lap, not yet intend on leaving the warmth of her body. Her slightly inapt pronunciation makes the taller woman chuckle.

 

“It’s means ‘dear’ or ‘beloved’.” she explains, and lifts up Grace’s hand from her body, and brings up to to press a kiss on its back for emphasize.

 

“Who was that?” Grace asks as nonchalantly as she can, but still smiles fondly at the gesture, and quickly sits up to greet Taina with a quick peck to her lips herself. The Brazilian frowns for a second, not even making the connection yet.

 

“ _Oh_ , that was Vincente. He’s been running a few errands for me while I am gone.” She offers sort of a little bit too noncommittal for her girlfriend’s taste. But Grace doesn’t want to press the issue, because she knows that’d make her either come off as desperate or nosy.

 

“Hope you said ‘Hello’ for me.” She instead says, and adjusts herself next to the taller woman.

 

“When will your mother arrive?” Taina quickly asks. There is a hesitance and unease in the way she says it, that prompts Grace to quickly straighten herself out in front of her.

 

“Don’t worry; She is going to like you. If she even acknowledges your existence. Seoya and her haven’t seen each other in a while.” She explains and throws her arms over the other woman’s shoulders and around her neck while holding her gaze.

 

“And it doesn’t matter what she thinks!” she quickly adds before closing the distance and pressing their lips together in an intense kiss. Sometimes she wonders though, if they might be moving too fast. If all of this is just a symptom of them being alone, and away from their usual everyday life. A week ago she wouldn’t have dreamed things would turn out this way. Well she hoped of course. On the other hand, at least according to their friends, they have been dating for at least two months, so it’s probably going to be okay. _Even_ if she doesn’t agree with that assessment at all!

 

“I’m asking because of the lead time to prepare the food.” the Brazilian establishes in a deadpan voice, but there is also visible relief in her posture.

 

“Uh, I don’t know actually, but I told her we would be having dinner late in the afternoon, so there is more time to catch up and she should have breakfast if she wouldn’t join us. And since she’s not here….” Grace replies with a happy, almost completely innocent smile.

 

“How about I take a shower, make some breakfast and wake the little gremlin then; And you report back to Yumiko in the meantime. You didn’t yesterday. You should still catch her in time if you call now.”

 

“No, I… _Uh_ … didn’t mean to….” the Korean replies surprised, her face twisting in a short series of grimaces over the insinuation, but other woman only hums with a knowing expression, and tips Grace over and off of her with a content shove. “Tell her I say _Hi_.” Taina offers with a small smile and quickly swings her legs out of bed, leaving Grace staring at the ceiling for a moment, musing over how well her girlfriend practically since they have met is always able to get her.

 

* * *

 

Taina never particularly thought Seo-Yeon to be anything but happy and carefree. Sure, she is smart and more thoughtful than you would expect from someone her age. But she is otherwise the spitting image of her sister. Only today there is something about her, that seems particularly off. She is noticeably very antsy, but somehow also on her best behavior, while unruly prowling the living room.

 

“Are you alright?” the Brazilian woman asks gingerly, as she rolls up the sleeves of her plaid shirt and proceeds with unpacking the paper bag filled with different kinds very of fresh fish.

 

“Yes. I _Uh_...” the younger sister hesitates. “Do you mind teaching me how to make the food?” she quickly follows up.

 

“Of course. You can help if you want.” Taina offers with a rare amicable smile and gestures for the girl to join her. “Did you do some cooking already?” she asks, shoving some of the stuff she has already unpacked aside to create some space.

 

“ _Grace’s_ mom let me help sometimes. But not much. I can, like, peel potatoes and stuff.” She concedes sheepishly.

 

“Okay then.” Taina replies friendly, for a moment considering the best course of action. “I’m going to prep the fish first. You can watch, and if you feel confident, try on the other one. Alright?”

 

“Hmmm, Okay!” Seo-Yeon hums, much more enthusiastic than before, and attentively takes her position next to the woman.

 

“The fish is gutted and cleaned already.” Taina explains, turning the dead animal over. “But there is also nothing wrong with buying it filleted. It’s just a habit. When I was a girl we bought the fish directly at the market. Not at the supermarket.” she adds, picking up the knife resting on the board.

 

“Where did you learn to cook?” The girl asks interested, not a little bit affected by the sight of the dead animal.

 

“My mother taught me when my father was still alive. I actually always enjoyed cooking.” the woman answers, almost fondly. Then adds “I also don’t own a TV.”

“First, remove the head with a V-cut right behind the gills.” she goes on a moment later. Seo-Yeon doesn’t fail to recognize, that she, even though she apparently speaks about it freely, tends to switch subject pretty fast every time her mother comes up. Which she understands obviously. But there is also something different in the way she speaks about it sometimes.

 

* * *

 

The distraction works pretty well, and the girl is quickly absorbed by the tasks Taina gives her. In the end she opts to not completely cut the other fish, but Taina nonetheless makes her cut the skin from it, which she manages quite well. At first Seo-Yeon is skeptical about marinating the fish, since the mixture of spices and garlic smells strange and unappetizing to her, but the Brazilian explains that it won’t be as strong in the end, and she sort of accepts that, albeit still doubtfully.

 

As it turns out their mother is more than punctual, as about a quarter of an hour before the agreed time, the doorbell rings, immediately breaking all the calm and concentration the girl has had until this moment.

 

“Do you want to change?” Taina asks friendly, trying to sooth her the best she can – After all only one of them is needed to toss the shrimp. – and quickly takes the pan from her. Seo-Yeon only nods agitated and quasi sprints into her room.

 

Grace, who has joined them a while ago and is already dressed up by her standards can’t help but smile at the other woman fondly; Admiring the ease and calm she handles her task with, almost completely losing herself in it, like she would with a complex logical problem or programming task.

 

“You should get dressed too.” She smiles at her girlfriend’s bare legs and shorts peaking from under the large flannel shirt, lightly covered in a few different stains, and makes a detour to press a gentle kiss to the side of her neck exposed by the messy plait she has her hair tied into, before eventually striding over to the door to greet their guest; Nonetheless smirking at the sudden memory of exactly those shorts and a bikini top, that seems so far in the past already.

 

Two minutes later Taina can hear Grace open the apartment door, followed by a happy squeal. Then her and another, more matured, voice exchanging a few audibly content greetings. Unfortunately the Brazilian isn’t finished yet, so she has no choice but to stay where she is. It’s not that she is particular anxious – she has made her peace with the fact that she won’t get around meeting the woman – but would still prefer to at least put on some clean clothes first. In detail explaining every step has at least somewhat delayed her original schedule.

When she hastily sets down the pan and turns off the stove, only quickly wiping her hands on a kitchen towel, she can hear further commotion, as the younger sister makes her way into the hallway too. For a second it’s very quiet, but then there is a flurry of unintelligible Korean, followed by unrestrained sobbing. Taina eventually hesitantly, not wanting to intrude on the supposed intimacy, rounds the corner and finds Grace’s mother surrounded by the sisters. Her girlfriend encloses the other women in a group hug, but the girl has her arms full on thrown around the older woman, her face pressed against her body, visibly not the least bit intent on letting go, as Grace’s mother apparently tries to calm her down, talking in a low voice and gently stroking her head. There is a strange sense of relieve in seeing that; Seo-Yeon anchored around the woman’s body and being welcome there, without any apparent hesitation or animosity. A soft, albeit a little bit sad smile appears in the Brazilian’s face, as she finally takes the time to seize up the woman.

 

From what Taina can see, Grace’s mother can’t be older than fifty and is almost as tall as herself, standing even a little bit taller than her daughter. Her clothes are, as the Brazilian already expected, pretty nice; But also noticeably very practical. Very businesslike brown pixie pants, a hip-length, beige crochet jacket, over a simple white blouse. Friendly maroon eyes now looking back at her from under a twisted updo; Single dark brown strains of hair framing the woman’s face. There is some inherent grace about her demeanor, and as their eyes meet, there is a challenging sharpness she otherwise hides very well, that makes Taina hesitate to approach her freely. A moment goes by with the tall women locked in a staring contest. But Grace suddenly breaks the hug and hurriedly saunters to the Brazilians side. Pointedly clasping her arm and pulling herself up happily.

 

“Eomma. This is Taina, the woman I told you about!” Grace eagerly proclaims and lightly ushers the taller woman at her side forward. The woman eyes her daughter’s girlfriend with a feign glare, but then her expression softens into a pursed smile, that immediately reminds Taina of Grace.

They proceed to look awkwardly at each other, as the older woman is still holding the girl, but after a short moment of silence the girl detaches herself from the woman, and still teary eyed gets on her toes to whisper something in the oldest woman’s ear, before happily taking a step aside; Now considerably more cheerful, smiling again.

 

“Is that so?” Grace’s mother grins vaguely suggestively. Her expression throws Taina off a little bit, but she nonetheless manages to muster an appropriate greeting.

 

“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” she falls into English politeness, prompting the woman to chuckle lightly.

 

“Nice to meet you Taina.” She gives back easily. “But don’t call me ma’am. I’m Emily.” The revelation of her first name obviously irritates the Brazilian, but then she also recognizes something about the way the older woman speaks, she couldn’t quite place until now. She doesn’t speak English with a Korean accent like Grace or her sister do. It sounds almost like she is speaking Korean with an American accent. Her irritation must show on her face, because the woman quickly goes on explaining. “I’m American. My father was an American soldier.”

 

An awkward silence starts to form again, and Grace practically shoves her girlfriend forward the last few centimeters, enabling the women to shake hands. “Seoya, do you mind setting the table? Taina still needs to change.” she says friendly.

 

“ _Oh_ , _Uh_ , Yes, of course.” the girl replies and hurriedly vanishes into the kitchen.

 

“Turn off the stew!” The Brazilian hopes she remembers all the instructions she gave her about the food arrangement, but doesn’t get a chance to worry, because as soon she and Emily exchanged greetings, Grace practically hauls her towards the bedroom. When she reappears five minutes later she is dressed in one of her usual elegant outfits; Another green blouse over a pair of washed blue jeans. Her hair put into an updo that almost matches the older woman’s.

 

“Dinner is served!” Seoya’s happy voice greets her, as she quasi stands in attention next to the counter, now laid for the shrimp appetizer, while the older woman already sits next to her, hand reassuringly resting on her back.

 

“I hope it’s to your liking.” Taina says politely, smiling at the enormous amount of pride the girl has over _their_ work.

 

After the slightly awkward start, they quickly settle in a somewhat familiar atmosphere. The food is of course great, and has Emily compliment the pair a few times, although Taina always makes an effort to direct as much of the praise at the girl as possible; Practically politely denying any responsibility for the meal. The whole thing makes Grace burn with pride and affection; Repeatedly beaming at her whenever she is not looking at her.

 

* * *

 

“So, Taina, you are a soldier too?” Emily inquires casually, once they are in the middle of the main course.

 

“Police officer, actually.” The Brazilian replies after swallowing.

 

“I see. It’s also secret I presume.”

 

“Mostly yes. But there wouldn’t be much to tell anyway. It’s not as exciting as people make it out to be.” Taina replies politely, pointedly ignoring the look Grace is shooting her.

 

“Strange. My daughter keeps telling me the same.” the older woman deadpans, giving her daughter a challenging look.

 

“She beat up a store clerk who touched me!” Seo-Yeon interjects cheerily, prompting her new friend to grimace and her sister to violently chuckle, but then both to shoot her a glare.

 

“That’s hardly what happened. I just adjusted his attitude.” the tall brunette relativizes.

 

The older woman unexpectedly only hums acknowledgingly, not giving any indication of disapproval, and picks up another piece of food.

 

They go about their meal in silence, only from time to time exchanging some more praise and questions about the cooking, until there eventually is a longer pause, where Emily intensely eyes the couple in silence.

 

“Do you know what you want to do once you leave service?” she asks a moment later. Grace’s expression immediately drops into apologetic, and she opens her mouth to quash to question, but the Brazilian beats her to it. At least now she knows where the woman got her direct nature and occasional impertinence from.

 

“A friend of mine owns a bookstore he offered me a share in. But I’m mostly thinking about becoming a social worker. I always wanted to work with children.” Taina establishes. Following her short elaboration, that is way too casual for Grace, the Korean’s eyes go wide, her face setting into disbelieve at the revelation. She knows Taina has a basic degree in psychology she got shortly after training, but the woman never did say anything to that particular effect. Although she has to admit, of all the things they talked about, the topic never came up. “And I can do that in any country on earth. But nothing is set in stone.” She qualifies, apparently noticing Grace’s slight agitation, because she is suddenly shooting her a vaguely apologetic look. Realizing the nonchalant manner she talked about that relatively important subject, they never actually talked about themselves. For a long moment Grace looks seriously hurt, but then quickly composes herself, albeit shakily even making a joke about her being at least as smart as her. Nonetheless a bit of disappointment lingers behind her friendly expression, and while she can’t shake her usual physicality, she’s somewhat distant afterwards.

 

Seeing her daughter’s expression, Emily only shoots the Brazilian a knowing look, full of pity, but also positively acknowledging her ambitions with a nod. After that the discussion briefly drifts into small talk again, and the older sister’s disgruntlement goes away, as her mother apparently decides to not interrogate Taina any further and instead catch up with her other ‘daughter’. Or so Grace thinks.

 

“Being from Brazil; What’s your opinion on gay marriage? It’s legal over there right?” she asks nonchalantly a while after they finish dinner and Grace suddenly spills wine back into the glass through her nose; Now violently gesturing for her mother to let it go. Taina purses her lips, and her girlfriend can see her hand spring towards that spot just beneath her collarbones.

The silence that forms is heavy, so Emily quickly paddles back. “Of course that’s entirely your business. Around here opponents will usually procure some token homosexual to establish that they don’t want to get married in the first place. I’m sorry if the topic is sensitive.”

 

“No, it’s fine.” the Brazilian replies calmly, although there is a sharp edge to it, and Grace can see that emotion well up in her. The impulse to flee; Withdraw, _and_ leave her behind. “I am entirely in favor.” Taina establishes curtly, and the shorter woman interlaces their finger under the table, squeezing her hand and leaning in. She is right to think of the topic as sensible after all. When she heard how the other woman had talked to Yumiko and Hiro about it, she at first had suspected _she_ was the problem. It’s silly, but her reaction to her mother’s question almost fills her with relieve.

 

“You don’t have to talk about it!” she whispers reassuringly, gently tugging her close and brushing their faces against each other as she straightens herself out again.

 

The oldest woman looks between them questioning, but seeing their reaction decides against further pursuing the matter, and instead starts to rise from her seat. “I’m going to do the dishes.” She states sternly, leaving no room for discussion. “Care to help me frog?” she addresses the girl, who almost immediately jumps off her seat too and eagerly starts to collect the plates and cutlery. Taina isn’t sure if she should consider this a good thing, but Grace seems unfazed, so she decides to not worry too much about it.

 

* * *

 

The four of them spend the rest of the evening chatting and getting to know each other. As it turns out Grace’s mom shares a lot of her personality traits, but is a lot more calm and less intense in most of them. _Except_ for her subtle nosiness, where the apparent lack of comprehension for the concept of personal boundaries is a glaring similarity between the two of them. Although, unlike her daughter, she tends to pick up on it rather quickly. During the course of the evening the couple gets quickly thrown off the couch, so Seo-Yeon can comfortably rest her head in the oldest woman’s lap while lying down. A little bit of protest starts to bubble up in Grace, visible on her face, but Taina quickly agrees, pulling her off the couch by her hand. There is only one armchair though, so after exchanging their usual look, Taina drops into it first, followed by her girlfriend squeezing herself in the little remaining space and on top of her, even throwing her arms around her. Emily gives them another questioning look, but then smiles fondly, again seeing the way Grace beams at the taller woman.

 

* * *

 

Two hours later Seo-Yeon is fast asleep, the rest of them quietly sitting in the half dark of the room, no only lit by the dim light integrated in the kitchen hood.

 

“I need to stretch.” Grace says nonchalantly, and gets up. But as her gaze passes the other woman’s she nods her head towards the kitchen, prompting her to get up with her. When they are standing in front of the sink, the shorter woman moves close to the Brazilian’s ear, whispering something in her ear, only glancing over to the couch. The older woman frowns at the outburst of secrecy, but is quickly brought up to speed, when Grace returns, and asks her if she wants to stay till morning. Emily shoots her question look, making a dismissive, gesture, but the older sister cocks her head meaningfully, and points at the girl to her left. The other woman for a moment stops dragging her fingers through the girls hair and nods downwards towards the couch, inquiring about the nature of the sleeping arrangement Grace has in mind. The older sister quickly shakes her head and points at the bedroom door, then at her little sister again. Emily purses her lips for second, and Taina isn’t sure she won’t decline, but then she only nods her agreement, although she follows it up with a resigning shake of head.

 

* * *

 

“One of us could have taken the office.” Grace says quietly. Her eyes are still closed, her body more comfortably than she would admit resting half on top of her girlfriend again. The living room is already bathed in daylight, and they were actually woken by the sound of increasingly loud commotion from the kitchen.

 

“ _Hmmm_. Sure.” Taina hums faintly sarcastically. Both of them know very well that that’s for all intents and purposes not a little bit true.

 

When they open their eyes, and turn their heads, they are greeted by the sight of Emily setting the table for breakfast. She has traded her blouse from the day before for one of Grace’s t-shirts, sweatpants and a dark hoodie, sporting a large 707 on its back, her hair bound into a long ponytail, that takes a good ten years off of her; On first glance they would easily pass as sisters.

 

Appreciating the way the taller woman puts up with her, Grace hurriedly gets up, but not before spending a few seconds pressing a long kiss to the Brazilian’s face.

 

“Seoya is still asleep.” The woman informs them. And places two mugs of coffee in front of them, as they join her. A few minutes go by without either of them saying something, while she finishes her task.

 

“What are we going to do about that?” Grace asks gingerly. “She is seventeen already. We could put up a fight. We both know money isn’t the issue here.” She states into the silence, but receives no reply. The older woman has her back to them, now visibly clutching the kitchen towel in her hands.

 

“What do you want me to do?” She asks noticeably agitated. “There is no cause for either of us to fight her parents on the custody.” She adds calmly. “And would you do that? Walk into your father’s office, declaring you and me are suing, because he is a terrible father and her mother is a bitch? I shouldn’t even be here.”

 

“That’s not what I’m saying. You said it yourself; She’s seventeen already. December next year they won’t be able to do anything about it anyways. But look at her; She showed up at my doorstep. If Taina wouldn’t have been here, who knows what would have happened. Talk to Dad. She might very well be out of the door the second she turns nineteen. If not before. He listens to you.” Grace implores seriously.

 

“Seventeen?” Taina asks hesitantly. “She told me she’s only fifteen.”

 

“She is. In western years. But here you are born being one already, and turn a year with each new year. Seoya’s birthday is in December, so she was two already when she wasn’t even a month old.” the younger Korean explains.

 

The older woman huffs in protest, and rolls her head.

 

“You know I spend the past two years rationalizing and compartmentalizing the fact I wasn’t able to see or talk to my other daughter. And I hate the fact she was never allowed to call me mother.” Emily’s whole body trembles.

 

Although uncalled, Taina nods her agreement. That’s actually something she wondered about the last evening. The way Seo-Yeon hesitates when addressing the woman.

 

“I know.” Grace replies meekly. “But we need to do _something_.”

 

“The court order is technically in Seo-Yeon’s name, isn’t it? Doesn’t she get a say in the matter?” Taina asks tentatively, unsure whether she should interfere at all.

 

“Yes. But if both parents insist they don’t want her to have anything to do with her, that doesn’t count for much. That’s why we have to get our dad’s approval.”

 

“Okay.” The older woman concedes after a long pause. “I’ll go talk to him.”

 

“But you can’t tell him she ran away!” Grace adds. “I kind of lied to him about that so she won’t get in trouble.”

 

“I’ll think of something.” Emily sighs at that. “Sorry you had to hear all that.” she adds, looking at the Brazilian woman sadly. But Taina only shakes her head, almost mirroring her sad expression with a wry smile.

 

About half an hour they spend mostly in constricting silence, the bedroom door slowly moves open and Seo-Yeon quietly joins them at the counter, only offering a curd greeting. The older women eye her suspiciously, but neither of them says anything.

 

* * *

 

“Don’t be sad, frog.” Emily implores when they say their goodbye a few hours later, and squeezes the girl in a tight hug.

 

“I’m going to miss you.” Seo-Yeon replies, like there is might be any doubt of that fact, a few small tears rolling down her face.

 

“I’m going to miss you too!” the older woman quickly replies, trying to contain her emotions as much as possible. “Be good.” She adds and noticeably hesitates for a moment. “And don’t hesitate to call if you need something.” she offers. “I love you.” Upon the quiet admission the girl looks like she is going to burst into tears any second, and Taina gently places her hand on her shoulder.

 

“And you, be good too.” the older woman addresses Grace with small smile, then encloses her in a hug too. “I like her.” She adds barely audible, and lets go of her.

 

“I’ll call you when we are stateside again.” her older daughter replies, trying to contain her own emotions too.

 

“Nice to meet you Taina.” Emily finally offers. “Hopefully I’ll be seeing more of you in the future.” She adds with a faint wink.


	18. The Girl Who Fell From The Sky

It takes Taina all of forty five seconds to figure out they are the only two people out of all the seats in the cabin, and she shoots Grace, who is already making herself comfortable in the seat next to her a questioning look; Nodding towards the rest of the seats and raising an eyebrow. The Korean only shrugs and smiles innocently.

 

“Maybe they are underbooked?” she offers with a pursed smile, then nonchalantly leans against her girlfriend’s side as much as the divider allows for, wiggling her body into place the best she can, considering they are going to spend at least half a day like this.

 

“ _Or_ , someone deliberately arranged every other passenger in first class into all the other cabins.” Taina gives back dryly.

 

“But why would _someone_ do that?” Grace replies innocently, although the corners of her mouth inadvertently start tugging upwards.

 

“At least you didn’t buy out the whole cabin.” the Brazilian quietly scolds.

 

“It was on the table.” Grace deadpans and wipes out her tablet from her backpack, with great satisfaction registering the vaguely disapproving expression on the other woman’s face slowly, inadvertently, morphing into a fond smile.

 

Taina, who would never thought she would be taking book, let alone movie recommendations from the Korean, patiently waits for her to select that animation film both the sisters, with their unrelenting enthusiasm, practically had begged her to watch, vowing they would owe her whatever favor she’d be asking if she didn’t like it. And since she always tries to be open about everything – mostly – _Castle in the Sky_ it is.

 

* * *

 

When they step off the plane it’s a sunny Californian spring day, and the sun baths the parts of the terminal it can actually reach in warm daylight. So if she wasn’t before, Grace is in a fabulous mood _now_. Although the Korean is rather hungry, and since they have some time left until Yumiko is supposed to pick them up, already enthusiastically drags her girlfriend along towards one of the small restaurants in the terminal.

The better part of half an hour later, they are greeted by the at least slightly disgruntled Yumiko, who is impatiently waiting for them at the agreed pickup spot, obviously aware when their plane was supposed to, and actually _has_ arrived, earning her, even though they are still a good twenty meters away, an apologetic look from Taina. When they are almost in hearing range, Instead of greeting the Japanese in her usual very outgoing manner, Grace suddenly stops in her tracks and pulls the taller woman to her side by her hand, a serious expression on her face.

 

“I mean, _Yumiko_ obviously knows about _us;_ But we haven’t discussed PDA….” she begins. Her voice isn’t really anything but confident, but her face as usual betrays her, as the brunette can easily see she really worries about her being comfortable. – She supposes she can’t blame her. A, from Grace’s perspective almost unbearably long moment goes by, but then Taina pulls her around, both now closely facing each other, the intense gaze the taller woman giving her, already bringing a soft blush to the Korean’s face.

 

“When I said, I wanted to be your girlfriend, I didn’t mean, _for the next week_ , or _only when it suits my own preferences_.” The Brazilian establishes solemnly, holding the shorter woman’s gaze, and another short moment goes by with them holding each other, obviously under their Japanese friend’s eyes. “And I don’t care who knows, or sees. For all I care I’m going to bridal carry you all day, if that’s what you want.” she tries to lighten the mood and pulls her even closer. Grace immediately looks at her happily, and reaches up, resting her arms on the taller woman’s shoulders and around her neck, slightly pulling herself up to kiss her. It’s only brief, but passionately, and both of them are still quite breathless when the shorter woman lets go of Taina again.

 

“Would you carry me now?” the Korean asks playfully, still slightly panting, and hooks Taina’s hand under her butt with her own.

 

“Não.” the Brazilian deadpans in reply, but still grabs hold of Grace’s butt with her other hand and firmly relocates her to her other side, accompanied by light giggles, as her feet briefly leave the ground. And when they turn towards her again, the Japanese woman does look slightly less annoyed than before, too.

 

* * *

 

“So, Taina...” Yumiko begins from the driver seat when they are already halfway out towards the base – Her friends are obviously sharing the backseat this time – Capitão couldn’t reach you, because you were mid flight, and he is currently on mission…”

 

“The thing in San Francisco?” Grace interjects. “I’m just now reading about it. Apparently it has been resolved already. No casualties.” she announces, only the slightest amount of relieve in her voice.

 

“But he told me to tell you. _It has been done_.” the Japanese informs them cryptically. The Brazilian only hums acknowledging.

 

“What has been done?” Grace immediately frowns, instinctively slides away from the other woman on the bench, narrowing her eyes at her with a questioning expression.

 

Yumiko opens her mouth to answer, but Taina quickly cuts her off. “It’s a surprise. Nothing bad. Don’t worry about it.” she says as nonchalantly as she can to not worry Grace, although neither of them fails to recognize the evasive undertone.

 

“What is it? When are you going to tell me?” the Korean asks curiously, already fidgeting in her seat.

 

“You’ll see soon enough.” The Brazilian replies, prompting the shorter woman to huff at their secrecy, but then she settles against her body again, although Taina can see her pout from the corner of her eye.

 

Halfway through the drive out to Rainbow Town – Grace is absentmindedly playing with her phone, nonetheless practically lying down across the backseat, using Taina as a cushion. – the Korean suddenly straightens out her posture and noticeably agitated mumbles something in Korean.

 

“What is it?” Taina inquires confused by the sudden shift in her mood.

 

“That asshole!” Grace says uninformatively. “He never asked her for a double date!” she huffs.

 

When Taina looks over onto the screen of her phone there is a picture of the a pretty attractive looking Asian woman with short black hair and a friendly smile taking a selfie, while the Brazilian’s girlfriend’s best friend can be seen in the background, trying to wrestle the device out of her grip. Apparently he has just now informed his supposed girlfriend of the other woman’s proposition. Although it might as well have been Seo-Yeon’s doing.

 

“Hye-Jin says Hi.” Grace grins, and proceeds with typing something into her phone. A moment later a second photo arrives. This time it’s Seo-Yeon holding up a victory sign into camera with a wide grin. ‘Someone’s in trouble.’ the caption reads.

‘She just asked what he meant by _they aren’t even really dating_. (￣ヮ￣)’ the next message comes, and now even Taina has to supress a snort.

 

More typing.

 

‘He just told her he liked her since they first met. All is well. (づ￣ ³￣)づ Tell Taina I miss her already! ( ◍ • ᴗ • ◍ )’

 

_Some more Hangul._

 

The last message prompts the Brazilian to smile fondly, while Grace’s face irritatingly assumes a somewhat crimson color, followed by her mumbling something in Korean again.

 

“ _Precocious_ _brat._ ”

 

* * *

 

When they pull into the parking lot next to the two relatively large apartment buildings, Grace is already noticeably fidgety, and immediately jumps out of the car once they stop in the actual parking space, quickly stretching and for a moment soaking up the sun on her face with closed eyes, while the other women retrieve the luggage from the trunk.

When Taina eventually rounds the car, carrying both their bags on one side of her body, the Korean’s face immediately lights up with protest, quickly trying to get her own bag out of the other woman’s hand. For a short moment the Brazilian actually fights back, holding onto the baggage, but then lets go of it with a shrug, and Grace triumphantly throws the large black duffel bag decorated with a bunch of colorful stickers and her 707 badge over her shoulder. The shorter woman looks down in between them, again hesitating, but then makes up her mind and unopposed intertwines their fingers for the short walk to the building.

Grace absentmindedly hums a melody stuck in her head, ready to step into the elevator, when Taina unexpectedly lets go of her hand. “There is something else I have to do. I’ll see you later.” the Brazilian offers, probably the most sheepish the other woman has ever seen her since, well, _that_ day, prompting Grace to frown at her.

 

“Where are you going?” she asks and narrows her eyes at her girlfriend, but then also looks at Yumiko with the same leery expression.

 

“The surprise? I’m coming over in about an hour.” the taller woman quickly grabs Grace’s hand and brings it to her mouth to kiss her knuckles, but the gesture almost completely misses its intended effect, and the Korean, one could say petulantly, withdraws her hand. Another moment goes by with Grace giving the both of them a vaguely offended, questioning look while Yumiko patiently hold the elevator door open with her hand on the sensor. Then the shorter woman grumbles, but wraps her arms around Taina one last time before finally relenting and stepping back into the elevator.

 

“Okay. See you later.” she says with a noticeable pout, unbeknownst to her almost accomplishing her goal, as the taller woman offers a pursed smile.

 

* * *

 

Yumiko barely manages to brace for impact, only just plopping down onto the surface of her own bed, when her roommate, agitated and practically flailing, bursts through the door she left half open in anticipation.

 

“All of Taina’s stuff is gone!” she announced slightly breathless and unambiguously glares at the Japanese woman, almost strangling the cat in her hold, who immediately starts defending himself vigorously, until she lets go of him; Admittedly there is no reasonable explanation that doesn’t involve her having a hand in it. Yumiko opens her mouth, but doesn’t get to reply.

“ _Why_ is all her stuff gone?” Grace inquires sharply, her emotions visibly spinning out of control fast. “Is she going somewhere? What’s the secret? You are going to tell me or else!” she threatens, pointedly waving her tablet at the older woman. Although it’s not clear whether her threat is virtual or involves a whack over her head with said tablet.

 

“Its not for me to tell.” Yumiko supposes it worth the try, but seriously, who is she fooling, really?

 

“So, her clothes and personal stuff just vanished without you noticing anything?” the shorter woman huffs, prompting the Japanese to roll her eyes at her.

 

“That’s not what I said, and you know it.” Yumiko replies patiently, basically staling, quietly hoping the Brazilian would make her way over just that very moment. Although, probably not. Grace meanwhile starts pacing in front of her, only pausing to reset the strap of her, fashionably a size too large, jeans overalls.

 

“Okay, don’t tell me. I’m gonna find out anyway.” Grace replies petulantly, already halfway out of the door.

 

* * *

 

Yumiko grants the Brazilian woman entry without hesitation, only shrugging and nodding her head with a friendly smile and a pointed eye roll. When Taina gingerly pushes the door to her girlfriend’s bedroom open, the woman is sitting in one of her very uncomfortable looking poses on the chair in front of the desk, playing one of her games. Large colorful headphones sitting on top of her slouchy. The shorter woman seems entirely distracted by the game, so the brunette makes her way behind her with ease, only announcing her presence, when she gently wraps her arms around Grace’s body, pressing a kiss to the bend of her neck, carefully not interfering with the headphones. Grace isn’t really startled and, although she slightly tilts her head to allow her better access, keeps going for a moment to the best of her abilities, although she is apparently quickly bested, because the taller woman is pinning her arms to her side with the hug. A few seconds later she lightly throws the mouse forwards, when the word _defeat_ appears on the screen. There is a little groan of annoyance, that quickly drowns in a fit of giggles, following another series of kisses.

 

“I’m mad at you!” Grace announces, but it holds no bite, since she noticeably melts into the embrace and lets out a content sigh. On the screen of the tablet on the table Taina can easily make out the floor plan of the apartment building and a list of the tenants. She doesn’t know what she expected.

 

“Don’t be. It was supposed to be a surprise. And someone needed to help me unpack all my stuff and actually build the new furniture.” The Brazilian defends the Japanese woman, not letting go of Grace. “Also, there is something I need to talk to you about.” She adds warmly, trying to not sound too serious, to not startle Grace, _again_.

 

“How you are going to make it up to me?” Grace jokes, and manages to turn herself around enough in the other woman’s hold to in turn pressing a kiss to the side of her face and another one to her mouth.

 

“Kind of?” Taina replies, uncharacteristically sheepish.

 

“I’m listening.” the other woman quips, but doesn’t receive an answer right away. After a few moments Grace gets somewhat alarmed by the silence, and quickly spins around the chair, breaking their embrace in the process. But when she finally meets Taina’s eyes, it becomes clear that she actually waited for her to face her, because she immediately returns her look.

 

“I want you to have the spare key.” Taina establishes somewhat hesitantly after another short moment of silence. “I mean, everything is still fresh, and I totally get if you think it’s inappropriate, as like girlfriends, but I want you to have it regardless, because you are kind of also my best friend.” she informs Grace. “Of course there would be the _obvious_ advantages.” she adds with a wry smile. There is a long pause, where the Korean woman just looks at her quietly, an unreadable expression on her face, only from time to time blinking.

 

“I… You want me to have a spare key?” Grace asks, visibly confused by the offer, or at least somewhat in disbelieve, a slight frown forming on her face.

 

“Is that a problem?” Taina asks, taking a step back, visibly unsure what to make of her reaction.

 

“No. I. Yes of course! I’d love too.” the shorter woman hurriedly collects herself. “I just didn’t expect… _I’m your best friend_.” she repeats to herself, her expression now filled with the usual happiness, an adoring smile forming on her face. Because. That’s also kind of super romantic, albeit also sad. When the first shock wears off, Grace immediately jumps off the chair, tightly wrapping her arms around the other woman’s body.

 

“It will be my honor!”

 

* * *

 

Grace impatiently rocks back and forth on her heels, waiting for the Brazilian to unlock the door to the small apartment only one floor beneath and a few doors down from where they live, and Taina barely manages to step out of the way when the door eventually opens and the Korean quasi bursts through the door.

It’s a fairly sizable studio apartment; Basically their living room and kitchen, plus a somewhat smaller bathroom. Although where the larger apartments are not entirely rectangular, the smaller ones are almost quadratic, strung together, with kitchen and bathroom occupying the space next to each other. The very first thing Grace notices, besides the fact the kitchen design is the exact same as theirs, which is to be expected, is the familiar old couch sitting in the middle of the room, vaguely where theirs would be too, but not facing a TV – there is none, _obviously_ – but rather looking out into the distance of the Californian landscape through the large window. There are a number of already half filled book shelves on the wall next to the door, a number of unopened moving boxes sitting in front of the shelves, and a brand new bed with may green covers in the smaller space next to the bathroom. Otherwise there is only a small wardrobe next to the bed and two nightstands, matching the bed’s design. The whole room is decorated with a number of personal items and pictures, almost all of which Grace remembers seeing before in some way, and she immediately recognizes the wedding photo sitting on the nightstand on Taina’s usual side. Surprisingly she doesn’t feel sad about it. Well she does, but not like before; She is sad for her friend’s loss, but she also understands her now.

She is about to turn around to take another look and cast her verdict, when she recognizes the image in the frame next to it. Or more so, she doesn’t, but she remembers the occasion. It’s a slightly blurry image of the two of them talking to each other, disregarding their surroundings. The picture was clearly taken across the table at Karaoke night. If she’s honest, she looks pretty tipsy on it, completely enamored eyeing the taller woman next to her, apparently hanging on her every word. The blurry recollection she has of the night brings a soft smile to her face.

 

“What do you think?” Taina inquires lightly after closing the door behind them and stepping closer, now awkwardly standing next to Grace. There is this slight apologetic tone for not telling the other woman beforehand.

 

“It’s great.” Grace pauses, trying to find a more fitting way to express herself. “It is very you.” she adds, vaguely gesturing in the direction of the bookshelves. “And no internet, I assume.”

 

“Actually...” Taina replies affectionately and steps closer, taking the tablet still sitting in Grace’s hand. “It’s connected to the network. The local WiFi is _Momo_.” she informs her, and starts entering the WiFi password into the device. To the Korean’s great surprise – And satisfaction – the password seems to be up to any security standard. And she got it memorized. _Nice_.

 

“Internet. Just for me?” Grace inquires, raising an eyebrow at the taller woman.

 

“Yes. I mean, well there are things that I could do more efficiently. Saves a lot of time.” the Brazilian reasons, causing the shorter woman’s expression to only lighten up even more.

 

“And that bed looks pristine.” she replies with a noticeable amount of innuendo in her voice, peering up at her girlfriend grinning.

 

The Brazilian hums acknowledging at her insinuation, but declines nonetheless. “That has to wait. There are still a few things in storage, and some paperwork I have to fill out. ‘Also got a doctor’s appointment.” she reasons, pointing a the spot at her side.

 

“Oh, right.” Grace’s expression falters. “Can I come along?” she asks forthrightly. “Maybe there is still time afterwards?”

 

Taina slightly sighs at her reply, but can’t deny her the favor anyway. After all she is the one who left her in the dark. She supposes there will be plenty alone time once she has settled in.

 

* * *

 

“So that’s what that whole situation was about.” Grace declares once Taina has finished recounting the process of actually applying for and getting the apartment. Including the clerical error. “You could still have told me.” she happily sways towards the taller woman and bumps her with her own hip, slightly knocking her off course with the cardboard box in her hand.

 

“Hey!” the Brazilian protests, but Grace has sped up and already put some distance between them, forcing her to follow after her with a light jog, before far more gently than the Korean returning the bump, eliciting a little giggle from the shorter woman.

 

They walk down the concrete path between the buildings and the large lawn area in silence for a while, simply enjoying the togetherness, before everyday life and routine catch up with them again. The sun is already setting. – It’s still just spring after all.

 

Taina eyes the Korean from the corner of her eye for a short moment. The other woman is as usual humming some catchy tune to herself and smiles into the distance. It’s the side of her. The mixture of honest, carefree happiness, and calm, that gives the Brazilian some sort of tranquility and peace of mind.

 

“Do you want to stay for dinner? I actually gave Yumiko a grocery list.” the taller woman suddenly asks quietly.

 

Grace doesn’t answer, and hesitates for a moment, seriously pondering the proposal. The thought that her girlfriend might want to have some alone time after they practically spend two weeks together continuously.

 

“Are you sure? I thought you might want to be alone for a bit.” she says sheepishly. – Yes, she is aware she already inserted her into this day by quasi guilt-tripping the other woman.

 

“No, I… Well yes. But I’d rather spend the first night at the new place _with you_.” Taina reveals hesitantly.

 

“Oh. Okay.” Grace replies as nonchalantly as she can manage, tries to suppress the sudden burst of joy over the revelation. “Should I bring a toothbrush, or do you want me to return upstairs, _afterwards_?” she adds with the most fake seriousness in her tone, putting a grotesque amount of emphasis on the last word. The comment makes the Brazilian wince at the insinuation, the reaction bringing another grin to the shorter woman’s face.

 

“I’m joking! If that bed is brand new, you are not getting me out of there until noon.” she informs Taina. “Also, you are technically still on medical leave for the next two days. And _technically_ my leave, or well, excuse for the performance evaluation thing doesn’t end until the day after tomorrow.” she adds happily.

 

* * *

 

When Grace’s eyes eventually blink open, she is met with the sight of the sun already bathing the whole apartment in the warm yellow of a sunny morning. The Korean is practically sprawled over the whole surface of the bed, wrapped in all the covers and sheets she has got a hold of during the cause of the morning. She curls her lips and adjusts her jaw, before rolling to her other side, now taking in the sight before her.

The room is filled with the sound of Taina preparing breakfast with her back to the bed. The Brazilian is still on her usual running wear, albeit barfoot; A large hoodie and black shorts revealing the entirety of her exceptionally well toned legs, immediately bringing to mind the previous evening. And night. And _technically_ early morning, forcing a self-congratulatory expression onto the Korean’s face.

 

“Good Morning!” she announces her awakening, understandably completely upbeat, looks around for at least one of her hair ties, but doesn’t find any of them. So she quickly fastens her hair with a messy knot on the back of her head, before crawling to the edge of the bed.

 

“Good Morning, Querida.” Taina replies without turning around, keeping her eyes on the pan, as she beats an egg into it.

Grace spends another moment musing over her new title and how much she loves it, but also closely eyeing the wedding picture, examining Mariana’s expression, the happiness her presence brought to the otherwise brooding and reclusive Taina. She really would have loved to meet her.

 

“This is becoming a bit of a habit. Me waking up naked while you are already dressed.” Grace establishes with a giggle and once more wraps her arms around the taller woman’s body from behind, pressing her face against her back, taking in the warmth and gentle presence, before pressing a small kiss to her cheek, then starts fishing for her underwear on the ground next to the bed.

 

“What are you going to do today?” Grace inquires politely as she takes her seat at the counter, honoring the quiet agreement that they would be spending at least the day apart, and immediately starts shoveling scrambled egg into her mouth.

 

“I was thinking about driving to the Tristan’s and maybe go for a walk at the beach.” Taina replies and graciously starts picking pieces of egg from her plate.

 

“You are going to Venice?” Grace inquires, starts fidgeting in her spot, her gaze falling onto the other woman’s face, stopping short of making direct eye contact, and a smile starts to form on the Brazilian’s face.

 

“I’m not going for a swim.” Taina clarifies, doesn’t want for Grace to just come along for the sake of coming along, when she could also spend the whole day playing video games. She wouldn’t really mind _if_ Grace came along, because it occurred to her the other day in Seoul, that her girlfriend somehow doesn’t hinder her proverbial battery’s recharge at all. Especially since they are exactly that, girlfriends.

 

“It’s going to be almost sixteen degrees already.” the Korean argues, her phone supplying the weather report.

 

“But it’s going to be windy, and the sun doesn’t get that warm yet. You are aware I’m Brazilian?” She jokes. A second later the taller woman caves with a loud sigh. Although she is unsure whether it actually is because of Grace.

 

“Why, would you want to come along?” she inquires friendly, makes eye contact to ensure her she means it.

 

“No, yes. I mean. You definitely didn’t report back to Tristan. So I’d totally understand….” the shorter woman begins, although it’s obvious even the question filled her with joy and anticipation already.

 

“If we go now we could be there around fourteen hundred.” Taina establishes. “I really don’t mind. Why don’t you go back to your place pick up some clothes and I’m going to pick you up half an hour?” the taller woman goes on. Trying to leave no room for argument to shorten any further discussion. Because, honestly, the thought of them spending the day together fills her with anticipation too.

 

* * *

 

Telling Tristan about the recent developments in the nature of their relationship goes as well as expected. The friendly and outgoing man stopping only short of a ‘told you so’, supplying them with free coffee and cookies to celebrate the occasion, even taking the time to basically stay with them the whole time, and enclosing both of them in an enthusiastic hug when it’s time for them to leave.

 

* * *

 

It takes only a second of dipping her big toe into the water to discern this indeed isn’t bikini let alone swimming weather in the slightest. Her disgruntled expression is met with an amused smile on the Brazilian’s part, prompting Grace to glare at her for a moment. It’s nonetheless a beautiful sunny day, and so after a little bit of good-natured debate they throw the ridiculous towel filled with cartoon characters down in the sand close-ish to the ocean. After settling down they spend a while quietly looking at the ocean. – At least for the Korean a rather unfamiliar sight.

 

“Did you go to the beach often?” Grace inquires and quickly nestles into the taller woman’s side, still looking out onto the ocean with quiet admiration.

 

“When I was younger, and my father was still alive we used to go often. My brothers were always idiots, but it was always fun. After all I was their little sister.” Taina muses with a wry smile.

 

“Is the water warmer then _this?_ ” Grace tries to avoid making the other woman venture in potentially painful territory.

 

“Most of the year yes. Almost thirty degrees.” the taller woman replies warmly. If the topic affects her she doesn’t show it.

 

“Not to brag, but we had a pretty big bathtub when I was a kid.” her girlfriend gives back. A second later a small, but noticeable shiver runs through her body, as a balmy breeze wafts across the beach. Grace tries to put on a brave face, but her body betrays her as soon as the next gust comes. And before she can so much as muster a protest Taina has half wrestled her into her own pretty warm plaid shirt, the Brazilian now only clad into her bikini top.

 

“Aren’t you cold?” Grace weekly reasons, is to thankful for the additional layer of cloth to really argue.

 

“I’m always warm.” Taina says and brings the shorter woman’s hand to her waist. And indeed, the Brazilian’s skin vibrates with warmth, almost like she isn’t effected by the cold at all. Although she pulls her legs further towards her body, wrapping the arm that’s not holding onto Grace around her knees.

 

“That’s so unfair. I’ve been training my whole life, trying to get my circulation up enough to be able to do that.” Grace pouts but nestles even closer to her.

 

“It’s _my_ superpower.” Taina replies with a smile, bringing a little grin to the by all accounts super nerd at her side’s face. “Do you want to go for a walk?” she inquires after a few more minutes of quiet togetherness.

 

“Do you think we can get ice cream?” Grace asks happily, eliciting a disbelieving expression from the taller woman.

 

“I thought you were cold?” she quirks an eyebrow at her girlfriend.

 

“What has that to do with ice cream?” the shorter woman shrugs, prompting Taina to good-naturally roll her eyes at her.

 

* * *

 

“This was a nice day. I’m glad you came along.” Taina says out of the blue once the reach the Asian women’s door again, her tone hesitant, an unreadable edge to her voice. Grace only beams at her, makes no move to actually return the a size too large short she is still wearing. They share a passionate but somehow also strangely innocent kiss.

 

“See you tomorrow?” Grace asks tentatively when her heels are on solid ground again, trying her best to not come across as too needy, even though she knows she kind of is.

 

“Yeah.” Taina replies softly. A moment goes by were both linger, Grace only playing with the keys in her hand, instead of actually putting them into the lock.

 

“Hey Grace.” Taina turns towards her again after already being half a step away. “I love you.”

 


End file.
